Fallen Broken Repentance
by Ghostpirates
Summary: Tsuna's a new Fallen, and all the devils-in-training are after him. Why? Well, you'll just have to read to find out. There will be pairings. Lots. And shounen-ai/yaoi. You are warned.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Comments:_

___ First Reborn! story. The idea just hit me in the face and it was too good to pass up. Have to apologize for an OOCness as I'm not used to writing the chracters. Hopefully it'll get better. D: Um... Please enjoy. :3 Hope I did a good job._

_--  
_

Prologue: Fallen

The barren expanse of Hell stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. The only light seemed to come from the ground itself and cast a faint red glow on anything that moved. A few demonic creatures flew hither and thither. One humanoid figure moved quickly toward a building that appeared from nowhere. This creature entered quietly and moved through the home with practiced ease. Long silver hair flowed gracefully through the air even though there was no breeze. The demon opened a door but closed it as he didn't find what he was looking for. The demon opened door after door, searching for a certain something – or someone. Eventually, he found what – or who – he was looking for. He slipped into the room and glared at its occupant. A black-haired demon was sitting in a very comfy chair, one leg crossed over the other, holding a glass of wine.

"Xanxus."

Xanxus glanced up, giving him an expectant look.

"There's a new Fallen."

Xanxus gave a very sadistic smile at those words.

--

In another part of Hell, two figures sauntered across the bleak landscape. Once again, a house appeared out of thin air and the two demons went in. They walked up a flight of stairs and opened a door to their right. A lone demon sat staring out the window, watching lesser demons meander across the ground.

"Mukuro-sama," the shorter demon addressed the man. He turned to the two. "We have news of a Fallen arriving two hours ago."

Mukuro grinned. "Ku fu fu. Really now? And just where is this Fallen?"

The black-haired demon spoke up. "He's escaped every scout we've sent, along with Xanxus' underlings. Byakuran has made no move, so we suspect he doesn't yet know. No one has been able to track him. We're unable to tell you his whereabouts."

Mukuro frowned. "Oya, oya. That's a problem." He stood up and stretched, his long ponytail swaying to and fro. "I'll just have to find this little _angel_ myself."

--

Cars honked and roared past a pale building. People strode by without a second glance, intent on their destinations. No one noticed a bony, black-winged, cat-like creature landing on the sidewalk in front of the building and going in.

The demon's wings folded to fit its back, disappearing with a puff of smoke as soon as they settled. A tattoo appeared on its cheek: two black wings, small, and they seemed to ripple for a moment before fading a bit.

This demon was a messenger demon. It pulled a small roll of parchment out of its sleeve and knocked on the door closest to the entrance.

"Come in," said an amused voice from inside.

The messenger demon entered and held out the message to a white-haired man sitting behind a desk.

It said in a raspy voice," A letter, Byakuran-sama, from one of the other 'devils-in-training'."

Byakuran took the paper, unrolled it, and skimmed the writing. His eyebrows rose and his smile faded.

"A _Fallen_? That's rare."

The messenger just nodded.

"Well, I'll just have to head back down then," he muttered to himself. He rolled the parchment back up and set it to flames.

--

Pure white wings were turning gray; feathers were becoming less feathery and more scaly. This was happening at an extremely slow pace, though.

Sawada Tsunayoshi sat with his wings folded around himself, the red light casting on eerie glow on his terrified face in the dark cocoon. His wings were the only thing hiding his presence from the demons. That, and he was still mostly angelic.

He shivered as he felt an approaching conscience. It was coming slowly, and he thought it would keep going, but it stopped before him. Tsuna opened his wings slightly to peek out; he instantly regretted it.

A shadow loomed over him. A smiling face was all he saw in the darkness. The stranger leaned down to be eye-level with him and leisurely pried his changing wings apart to see Tsuna better.

"So this is where you went, little angel."

It wasn't a question.

Tsuna shivered in fear. His wings being of no use anymore, he retracted them. The disappeared and a tattoo fizzled into life on the back of his right hand. The wings were gray and continued to darken and become more bat-like as time wore on.

He noticed for the first time since Mukuro had arrived, that there were two demons standing behind him. They had matching tattoos: light red bat wings on their left cheeks. Tsuna knew two things by this: 1) they were mates, as mates always have wing tattoos on the same parts of their bodies (they weren't always the same color), and 2) they were lesser demons. Any demon (or angel) who had a tattoo on their face or shoulders was an under-demon. Higher demons usually had them on their hands or arms, where they were easily covered.

But this wasn't helping him escape. He watched this blue-haired demon fearfully.

"Untraceable as you seem to be, it's very easy for any strong demon to sense you. Especially with your angelic little powers fading." Mukuro chuckled at this and continued, "I am Rokudo Mukuro, a devil-in-training."

Tsuna cursed his bad luck. Of course he'd run into one of the strongest demons in Hell right when he'd fallen, and with no help to call on. He stared at the hand Mukuro had thrust toward him, obviously waiting for him to accept the lift up. Either he took the help and risked capture right when he'd arrived, or he ran for dear life in the opposite direction as fast as he could (which would doubtlessly not be fast enough and land him in even more trouble). He was leaning strongly in the direction of the latter when a new voice erupted behind him.

"Voooiii!! Get away from him!"

Tsuna turned his head around so quickly his neck gave a very painfully loud _crack_. He rubbed it and watched a new silver-haired demon approach them. He carried a sword and was looking pissed. Following him a ways behind was a scary-looking raven-haired demon.

Mukuro gave a look of distaste, retracting his hand. "Ah... Squalo, Xanxus. I see you've heard about him."

Xanxus answered, glancing at Tsuna. "This trash is the Fallen?"

Tsuna looked indignant at being referred to as 'trash'. He was an angel, for Heaven's sake. Well, maybe not so much anymore. The wings were almost completely black and no longer angel's.

Mukuro opened his mouth to retort, but another voice interrupted him.

"I see I'm late to the party."

Every eye turned to the newcomer, who was smiling happily at them.

"Byakuran," Mukuro and Squalo stated. Byakuran laughed.

Tsuna was getting frustrated at his escape routes narrowing down. One DiT and two other who-knew-what-they-were demons. He'd be lucky to stay alive at all. Who knew demons gathered around a Fallen like wolves surrounding prey. What in the world did they what him for anyway? He wasn't an angel anymore. He wasn't of any use. They'd find this out and leave him alone. Or so he tried to convince himself.

Unbeknownst to Tsuna, the two new demons were both devils-in-training and he was screwed. Figuratively, of course.

"W-what do you want with me?" His voice finally found its way out of his dry throat. It came out as a squeak.

All eyes turned to him now, and he shrank under the gazes of these powerful demons. It wasn't every day an angel fell, and they would take whatever information they could get about the goings-on in Heaven.

Mukuro was the first to answer his question. "Ku fu fu. What we want, dear little angel, is to... get to know you." He gave a very evil grin.

Tsuna gulped.

"Voi! That's what _you_ want. We want information about your race," Squalo said.

"Rather, your former race," Byakuran amended.

"And we want them now," Mukuro injected into the conversation, not very happy at being ignored by the other two. "So, little angel – or should I say little _Fallen_ angel. Which of us will you choose to go with."

Tsuna looked around at them, weighing his chances with all of them. Byakuran seemed very happy, a little too happy... Mukuro creeped him out. And Xanxus... Well, Xanxus was just scary; Squalo didn't help much, either.

Before he even got to answer, or decide for that matter, a gunshot rang through the still air of Hell. Mukuro, Xanxus, and Byakuran immediately turned their heads right, and Tsuna followed. His eyes landed on a tall man with a black hat, curly sideburns, and a gun held at just the right angle for the bullet to have skimmed by Tsuna's face without hurting him a bit.

"Ciaossu."

--

_Author's Comments:_

_A few things to mention:_

_1) Only, like, some characters are ten-years-later. __ It just seemed to fit better. Try not get mad at my randomness for picking which characters are TYL! (It's my fic may I remind you)_

_2) There's this whoooole thing behind the demon and angel thing with the tattoos and everything. I'll probably explain most of it later in the fic._

_3) Reborn is TYL! just so you know. Baby him wouldn't have worked out...._

_4) Why is Tsuna the Fallen? 'Cause he's the main character, that's why! 8D And other reasons, which I will -coughmakeupcough- explain later._

_Hope you enjoyed,_

_MusicofFire  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Comments:_

_asdfghjll; I needed to get this up. Sorry it's slightly shorter than last. I just REALLY wanted to post it. I felt it ended perfectly for this chapter. Plus, I gotta give the computer up... ENJOY PLEASE. And thanks for all the love, guys. ;-; You made me very happy, especially since this is my first time trying this fandom._

_--_

Chapter 2: Heaven

It was pure chaos in Heaven. Or, to make it funnier, pure _Hell_.

Every angel that could be spared was swooping around the lovely, gold-rimmed, silvery-soft clouds. Some were just coming back from a hectic visit to Earth and others leaving for the same place. They all had one thought in their heads in their frantic search: _Where was he!_?

Lal, head angel at the moment, recalled only hours before, when angel Yamamoto Takeshi walked up to her, rubbing the back of his head, an uneasy grin on his face. Now, she wonders how he could have been smiling at the time.

"_What're you doing here?" Lal asks monotonously. "Aren't you supposed to be watching the _'the precious gift'_"_

_Yamamoto laughs, his wings twitching just slightly, betraying his nervousness._

_Lal sits up from her reclined position on her favorite viewing cloud. "What?" She narrows her eyes._

"_Well... I've kind of... _lost_ him," he chuckles._

"_Lost? You _lost_ him? How do you lose someone like him? Do you have any idea what you've done?" she shrieks. Yamamoto looks away._

"_Where'd you let him wonder off to?" she says calmly, grinding her teeth. Lal looks at the expression on his face and a thought comes to mind. A very bad thought. She'd _kill_ him; and anyone else who'd let that little angel wander off. "He didn't go down to Earth, did he? Please say no." Yamamoto rubs the back of his head, wings twitching again, more noticeably this time. "If you weren't an angel already, you'd be dead right now," she hisses at him._

_Then she goes about calling her closest confidants, explaining the situation. Yamamoto laughs again and backs off, leaving her to the search._

Yeah. No idea, she thinks. Further thoughts are interrupted by two angels walking up to her, holding a letter with gold-printed words and silver designs. A letter of 'resignation', so to speak. A note saying an angel had fallen. She plucks it from the messengers grip and waves them away, tearing it open.

Lal pales considerably. _He'd_ fallen. The one she had been assigned to take care of, watch over, protect, _let nothing happen to._ And now, she'd – **they'd** – let the absolute worst unfold.

--

Tsuna shivered involuntarily at the gazes on his back. They were watching him walk away, murderous intent clear toward his savior. He'd gotten out scott free.

He looked over at the tall demon who'd talked him smoothly out of capture – with a little help from threats and his gun, of course. Reborn, Tsuna recalled his name to be the one time any of those three had said it. It seemed that he was pretty strong from what Tsuna had seen. Which wasn't much.

Reborn had come in, convinced Mukuro, Byakuran, and Xanxus that, really, if they wanted to live long enough to ever become the strongest demon, Satan as-it-were, they'd let him take the little brunette Fallen to someplace safe. Though how safe being with another _demon_ could be, Tsuna wasn't sure.

He also found out that Reborn didn't talk much, as they'd been walking for quite some time in complete silence. It was starting to get unnerving.

"Why did you fall?"

The question was so sudden, Tsuna hopped quite close to two feet in the air, wings springing involuntarily from his back in surprise. He blushed at that.

"I-I'd rather not talk about it," he says falteringly. Well, more like he _couldn't_ talk about it because he didn't _know_. He had no idea why he was there. Tsuna didn't think he'd done anything wrong. So he'd taken a stroll down to Earth, without Lal's permission. It wasn't like he was going to stay. And Yamamoto had been busy doing something else. He had been bored.

Reborn nods and stops. He reaches out to something Tsuna can't see, and to him it looks like Reborn is opening a door. But Tsuna can't see it.

"Well? Get in," Reborn demands, annoyed.

"Get in what?" He shrinks as he receives a glare. "I don't see anything!"

A look of understanding crosses the demon's face. Almost as if by magic, a mansion-like house appears in front of them. Tsuna squeaks at the suddenness of a whole building materializing out of thin air. Then he notices Reborn is still giving him a look, still holding the door open, and he slips inside.

--

"Lal. Lal!" a voice behind her calls out, making her turn her head to see Colonello gliding toward her.

Lal turns fully and waits. He lands gently on the springy cloud and holds out a piece of paper. "A note, from a messenger demon. It was delivered to one of our angels just a short time ago. You should read it immediately," he explains, losing his familiar 'hey' at the beginning and end of sentences as he adopts an air of professionalism. It is an important matter, after all.

"Right," she says, taking the second letter of the day. It unfolds itself at her touch and words project into the air. Flashy demons, Lal thinks bitterly.

"_I regret to inform you that one of your little angels has fallen much farther than you can reach,"_ curling handwriting proclaims in the air. _"And little to my surprise, I can tell you're trying to get him back which indeed informs me that my suspicion was right and he is a direly important asset. Though I really wish to gloat and say that I have him, I don't. _Reborn_ has taken him into custody, saying 'He's of little use to you' as though I'd believe it. But that is besides the point. I was just sending you a little update on you sweet little Fallen._

_Oh-so-lovingly,_

_Rokudo Mukuro_"

Lal almost punches the closest thing to her; in this case, Colonello. But he ducks out of the way in time, and Lal just stamps her foot, her wings shivering angrily.

And the letter doesn't end there. There's a P.S. that shows up right when she's about to grab the floating piece of garbage. It appears in a puff of purple-blue smoke, bright red writing, proclaiming:

_You'll never get him back._

_--_

_Author's Comments:_

_Mukuro's such a gloaty, evil bastard, isn't he? 8D But I love him._

_Sorry if Reborn/Colonello/Lal seem OOC. Still trying here. :3 What'll happen next? :O And why doesn't Tsuna know why he's fallen? All this and more in the next(maybe not XD) chapter!_

_MusicofFire  
_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Comments:_

_Do you guys love me for updating three days in a row right after posting the story? :D Anyway, chapter threeee. I'm on a total writing spree. This has got to be the best I've written in AGES. I'm so surprised I haven't gotten writer's block yet. Let's hope I never do, right? ;D_

_Yeah, well, I really should be doing my three page essay comparing, like, five poets or something for my English class, but I thought this was more important. BE HAPPY. 8D And enjoy, as always.  
_

--

Chapter 3: Meeting

Tsuna wakes up in a perfectly comfortable bed. Scarlet sheets pool around his waist as he sits up and stretches his arms over his head. He sleepily peers around at the dark room. Suddenly, all the events of the previous day came rushing back, and Tsuna abruptly jumped out of the bed; he ran to the door and pulled it open with a little too much force. Somehow, he happened to be standing in the worst position, perfect for the door to hit him in the face with a loud _smack_.

He winces, holding his forehead, stars dancing in front of his eyes. A blurry figure stands in front of him, and he hears a low laugh. His vision clears, and Tsuna looks up to see Reborn standing there smirking.

"W-what?" Tsuna stutters.

The demon chuckles again and tilts his hat over his eyes so just his sinisterly smiling mouth is showing. Tsuna finds this offensive.

"What are you laughing at," he says, getting bolder.

Reborn raises his head and continues his smirking. "Nothing." He turns around and walks toward the stairs. As he heads down, he continues, "Just wondering what Heaven can need someone like you for."

Tsuna gapes. If Reborn hadn't saved him from those DiTs, he would very much have tried to run away from this sarcastic demon.

As it was, he followed slowly, taking in the house.

Most of the walls were plain, only a painting here or there on the dark walls; the floor was of blood red carpet, and the stairs were polished wood; there was no railing, and Tsuna felt uneasy walking down them. As he entered the living room area, he noticed there was only a large bookshelf, spanning nearly all the walls of the square room, neatly arranged with hundreds of books. Scanning through it, he could see they were in alphabetical order. The bookcase was interrupted by only the staircase and two other doors. The first he peeked into showed nothing but black, but the second one was well-lit with floating blue orbs; it was the kitchen. There was a small refrigerator and one tiny wooden table for two, along with a sink and small amount of counter space to prepare a meal. Moving on, there was once again two doors: one leading to black, the other to a gold-tinted room.

Tsuna entered this room to find that it was a den. A few comfy-looking chairs and a loveseat pushed into a corner decorated it. The floating golden orbs moved about sluggishly; one bumped into Tsuna's head, giving him a shock. It was extremely cold. He reached out a hand to the orb, but it shied away, floating upward. He pouted.

"They don't like to be touched," came a voice from the corner.

Tsuna turned quickly to see a rather short demon – horns, tail, and everything – sitting on the couch polishing a small statue.

"'They'?"

"Those orbs. They don't like to be touched. They're really small faerie-like creatures; of course, they are more demonic," he said as he climbed up, depositing the bronze horse effigy onto the cushions. He held out his hand which Tsuna shook. "My name is Damion. I work as a sort of servant here, and, in turn, Reborn-san keeps me safe."

He instantly took a liking to this young demon, sitting in one of the nice chairs to watch Damion continue scour the bronze with a brown, worn rag.

"What does he keep you safe from?" Tsuna asks.

Damion stares at the Fallen for a short moment, stopping his polishing. "Well, this and that. Stronger demons and other creatures that lurk down here. Just because it's Hell doesn't mean everyone's good at protecting themselves, especially small demons like myself." He shrugs nonchalantly.

"Oh..."

And they sit in silence as Tsuna watches Damion clean the room (what little there is _to_ clean) and thinks that he is rather lucky to have been saved by Reborn.

--

Hibari Kyouya, head angel of the APT (Angel Protection Team; they really needed a new name...), was currently walking aimlessly down street after street of a large city. He'd been sent by Lal to search for any information on the demons and had found nothing yet.

Just as we was about to return to Heaven with no news whatsoever, a voice called to him out of the shadows.

"And what, pray tell, is an angel doing down here, so very far from home?"

Hibari immediately becomes defensive, spinning around sharply with tonfas already out.

"What do you want, demon?" he hisses, getting into a fighting stance as a tall, slender demon walks out of the shadow of a tall building.

"Nothing life-threatening," he chuckles, amused by Hibari's automatic response.

Hibari snorts. "Like I'd believe that. Who are you? A messenger?"

"Hardly," the demon sneers. Then, smirking and giving a gallant bow, he says, "Rokudo Mukuro. I'm very sure you've heard of me. May I know your name?" he asks slyly, a glint in his eyes.

"No," Hibari snaps, not liking the smile he's receiving at all, though not showing it. He lets his wings spread out behind him, ready to take flight when necessary. He was a fighter angel and it was against his nature to flee, but Lal had expressly ordered him to harm nothing, not even demons, and return _safely._ But he wouldn't leave unless he had to.

"Now, Kyouya," Mukuro purrs. Hibari's eyes narrow dangerously. "It seems you've forgotten our last meeting. Shall I remind you?" When Hibari doesn't answer, only glares, he continues, "You weren't much of a fighter back then – when you were alive that is. You loved to punish anyone who annoyed you, and your skills were something to talk about, but nothing like now. I just happened to pass you by one day; if I recall, I bumped into you on accident. You gave me a black eye for that," he accuses, but lets out a soft 'ku fu fu'. "Of course, it was nothing back then. But now, _now_ look at us." Mukuro spreads his arms wide, indicating the two of them, this scene, and everything that was happening. "Completely different sides, completely different objectives, and who knew we'd meet again. Though I guess you never even bothered to think about some insignificant person who'd bumped into you on the street, unlike me. I found out about you and see where it's brought us?"

Through all of this, Hibari stood there, becoming more and more pissed at this stupid demon that he didn't like at all; but he did remember that meeting, and it was weird to stand there and know that he'd seen Mukuro before they became like this.

He was thinking about it for longer than he'd realized and by the time he did, Mukuro was already standing right in front of him. Hibari jerked away, his wings give a great _whoosh_ as they started to lift him. But Mukuro caught his right hand before he could get too far, spreading his own scaly, battish wings and lifting from the ground. He pushed back Hibari's sleeve and gazed down at his wrist.

"Oya, oya, Kyouya. What's this?" Mukuro asks, giving a great laugh and letting go, watching Hibari fly away and disappear into the clouds.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_Sorry chapters are so short. I promise they'll be longer soon. Muuuuch longer. It's just that they end themselves on me. D: I finish writing a certain sentence and it screams at me that "HEY. YOU SHOULD END ME RIGHT HERE. KEEP PEOPLE GUESSING. LOLOLOLOLOL"_

_Forgive my weirdness. X3_

_Umm.... Yeah. Thanks so much for the reviews (and favorites/watches/etc.), everyone! I think that's partly what is staving off my writer's block. I love hearing your opinions. Await the next chapter with patience. It MIGHT be up tonight. }D  
_

_MusicofFire_

_P.S. I.. umm... sorta need a beta because, while my writing/spelling/etc. is close to flawless (in my opinion; sorry to seem conceited, but English IS my best subject), I always seem to manage to make the stupidest spelling errors -- mostly with missing letters-- and then catch them after I post and reread. So, would anyone like to help? -wiggles eyebrows- You'd get to read the chapters before anyone else. -wink wink-  
_


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Comments:_

_Aaaaghh. I love you people. -bows- Showering me with reviews; it's fantastic! Anyway, I've decided to reply to reviews in the beginning of each chapter because I'm just too lazy to reply individually. Sorry. D: Oh, and I'm probably only going to reply to reviews that asked questions or the like; it'll lessen the load for me. Hope you understand. Just 'cause I don't reply doesn't mean I don't care! :3_

**akuma-river** _Sorry to disappoint, but no; no threesome. D: I'm making this story up as I go, by the way, so I don't know why Tsuna fell. XD I'll probably consult my best friend on that point as she reads Reborn, too. Also, Hibari already knew Tsuna had fallen and everything because Lal showed him the letter in the previous chapter; he was just sent to find out any extra information._

**xXJustAnotherFangirlXx **_I'm glad my writing could pull you away from midterm studying. XD_

**ohlordies** _What's wrong with Hibari as an angel? :O When I was first making the list of who was Angel/Demon, I asked my friend, "Which would Hibari be?" and her immediate answer was angel. XD I can't see Hibari as a demon for some reason; maybe it's just because he likes to uphold the law or something like that. Plus, Mukuro= definite demon, and it wouldn't have worked out if Hibari had been a demon, too, so yeah. Deal with it. :P_

_This chapter was... well... kinda hard to write. I got stuck at the beginning, but I pulled it off. As always, enjooo~y. Also, something I ALWAYS forget in everything I post on :_

**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like I own Reborn! ? If I did, do you think I would be writing this fanfic? Yeah. There's your answer._

--

To say Hibari Kyouya was pissed was an understatement; an extreme understatement. There was no word to describe how angry he was. That demon, devil-spawn, son-of-Satan, et cetera, et cetera had violated his personal space and seen _that_. The bastard could find _it_ now, and it would certainly be used against him. Kyouya paused in his thoughts: Mukuro had sounded smug, happy. Too happy by Hibari's standards. If he thought it over, the demon should not have been THAT pleased with discovering it. Unless, of course, Mukuro's was also...

Hibari cut his thoughts off there. There was _no way_. No way in Heaven or Hell that it was _Rokudo Mukuro_. Or so he hoped.

--

Tsuna had been in Reborn's house for a total of three days now. He'd been comfortable and at home even though he was far from his true place of residence. Damion was an ideal conversation partner during the boring hours of the 'day'. They talked about all kinds of things, especially about the different types of demons. Tsuna had a lot to learn on them.

Strangely, through his stay of three days, he had only caught one glimpse of Reborn after the first morning he'd woken up. Damion said it was because he mostly kept to himself and was busy. Tsuna just shrugged; he didn't really feel safe around Reborn anyway. Better for him to keep away.

As the third day drifted to a close, he and Damion sat in the kitchen, Tsuna reading a book from Reborn's extensive library (Damion had assured him that Reborn wouldn't mind; there wasn't anything bad in the books or things that Tsuna shouldn't know about), and Damion was polishing the same horse statue once again. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from the upper floor, and Tsuna dropped his book in shock; they were supposed to be the only ones here, Reborn being away somewhere doing God-knows-what.

Damion glanced at the ceiling in a knowing way and went back to polishing. "I'm guessing Chloe just got back," he stated out loud, starling Tsuna even more.

The Fallen looked upward and then toward the door as he heard stomping on the stairs. Through the open frame, he had a clear view of the stairs and saw a girl angrily coming down them. She had medium-length golden hair and onyx-colored horns that curled and ended with the pointed tip up. But the most unusual thing about her was her body. Her skin was a dark, vibrant blue that faded slowly around her shoulders; her arms were practically wings, feathers sprouting from them; she also had a tail. A long beautifully green peacock's tail that trailed behind her as she marched toward Damion. She gave only half a glance at Tsuna before staring intently at the other demon.

"Damion." Her voice was sweet, not too high, and gentle. Tsuna could tell she was angry, though. Her eyes flashed fire and she stood with his hands upon her hips, glaring.

Damion seemed hardly to notice, continuing his endless polishing of the shiny bronze horse. This only infuriated Chloe more.

"Damion, you answer me right now, or I swear when Reborn-san gets back, so help me, you will regr–"

"I heard you the first time."

Chloe puffed her cheeks in a show of indignation. She slowly let out the breath as Damion put the statue down and turned to face her. "What?"

"Don't 'what?' me, Damion. You know certainly well 'what'," she said.

"Chloe, I can't read minds."

Chloe let out a low squawk like an angry bird, then covered her mouth and blushed. If you could call it blushing; her face took on a purple tint from the odd color of her skin. She glanced at Tsuna once more before uncovering her mouth and resuming her glare.

"There's another scent in my room," she explained, looking slightly annoyed. Then, as if just figuring something out, she sniffed in Tsuna's direction, a look of dawning comprehension on her face. "You've been in my room," she accused, swiftly changing her attention to the Fallen. Chloe stared at him for a few moments, switching between glaring and pondering. "And you're totally a Fallen, aren't you? Reborn-san gave my room to a Fallen?" she directed at Damion gleefully.

"Yes."

Chloe gave another bird-like squawk and jumped at Tsuna, clinging to him and nuzzling his cheek. Tsuna looked petrified and made to push the girl off, but she wouldn't budge. Chloe's tail was brushing along the floor with a _swish-swish_ noise and slowly unfolding.

"Chloe," Damion said. "Chloe. CHLOE!"

Chloe let go of Tsuna and gave an apologetic look. "Ah, sorry. It's just, it's been so long since I last saw an angel–er, a Fallen."

Tsuna watched her curiously as she fiddle with her feathers, ruffling and smoothing in a trance-like pattern. "'Since you last saw an angel'? What do you mean?"

Chloe smiled and sat down. Tsuna reached out to stop her from hitting the ground, but a chair appeared at just the right time. Damion chuckled at Tsuna's cluelessness and went back to scouring the trophy.

The demon-girl swept her tail into a more comfortable position instead of sitting directly on it and stared at Tsuna for a minute, just watching. Then she started her ruffling and smoothing again.

"Well, you see, I haven't _always_ been a demon. I'm 824–" Tsuna looked appalled when he learned of her age "– so I've had a lot of time to explore things. And, come on, I'm not _that_ old. Compared to some of those angels up in Heaven, I'm like a new-born chick. Anyway, I was originally an angel (that's why I'm so colorful and exuberant), but I got into a spot of trouble while walking around on Earth; I got sent down here. I lived by myself for a short amount of time– I'd say about two months – before those devils-in-training showed their ugly faces." She scowled.

Tsuna gave an uneasy laugh. He could sympathize with her; he'd been in her position not four days ago.

Chloe took a breath as she regained her thoughts. "Rokudo Mukuro. He showed up first, though I can't be sure which of the three was first picked. He offered me shelter, but I wasn't stupid enough to agree. I ran and being older, I managed to get away. He sought me out a few other times. Then Xanxus came along. Well, more like Squalo; Xanxus didn't like to do his own work. Laziest one out of them," Chloe muttered. "Refused him also, but they didn't really pursue me, I don't know why. And of course, Byakuran was last. All smiles and happiness like he always is. Came up to me and asked me _how I was_. I looked at him like he was insane. Probably is. I almost went with him, actually, but then Reborn-san showed up, and I decided I'd be safer with him."

Chloe punctuated the ending with a loud yawn. Tsuna took all this in slowly, sorting through information. One point stood out to him.

"Why did you fall?"

"Ah?" Chloe looked taken aback. "Well... I'm not really sure. One moment I was on Earth, looking around at the different stores of the time, next minute, I was standing at the gates of Hell with no idea how I got there."

The Fallen was floored. That's exactly how it had happened for him, and he stated as much.

"Exactly?" Chloe asked. "Really?"

"That _is _suspicious," a voice echoed around the room.

Damion stood up quickly, the horse lain on the table in haste. Chloe shot up, too, the chair disappearing. Her extravagant green feathers shot up and out to form a sort-of barrier between Tsuna and their uninvited guest.

Tsuna peeked through the feathers to see a blond, a crown adoring his short blond hair, long bangs hiding his eyes. A smile tilted his lips, but it was nowhere near friendly. He was holding knives in his right hand. The stranger gave a quiet laugh: _shi shi shi._

"How'd you get in here?" Damion and Chloe shouted.

But their new house guest didn't answer, only leered at them through his hair.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_AHHJGMTLDE I AM SO SORRY. I took so long to update, but I had so much going on. -cries- Then I got writer's block and everything just went downhill and yeeeah. But I finally got back and this is what I came up with. Also, for a picture of Chloe: http: / / musicoffire . deviantart . com / art / Chloe - 121369188 Without the spaces of course. Also, ONLY TENTATIVE COLORS. D: I just wanted some basic colors to get down her idea. So, yeah, probably not EXACTLY what she looks like, but close. Yeah. Love you guuuys. Review, maybe? :3_

_MusicofFire  
_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Comments:_

_Review replyin' timez:_

**Kiseki390** _Hrmm... I _thought_ about it, but I'm undecided on that fact. I have at least two pairings I KNOW I'm putting in and a few others I'm thinking on, but I'm not going to reveal anything yet. -Sadistiiiic 8D- Would you like him to be paired with someone? I'm open to suggestions. ;D_

**Bookworm1994 **_I'm totally psychic. X3 I just had random inspiration, decided to write and posted it. And I figured I needed some kind of drama after such boring none-action-y chapters, so yeah. I picked Bel on a whim, and I think he'll go along well with my plans. :D Also, Xanxus is too awesome/special/lazy to do his own work. D: He has Squalo for that. But he'll eventually get off his ass and do something. Fiiiiight. Yup. Enjoy my epic fight scene. _:|

_Er... I don't think there's anything else. __ ENJOY._

--

"Who do you serve?" Damion growled, wings twitching irritably.

Their strange blonde guest gave another laugh and walked forward slowly. Chloe gave a low, angry twitter and her tail unfolded even more, startling Tsuna who was peeking through it. The green of her tail was growing brighter and the red, eye-like spots were now a mix of scarlet, orange, and yellow. Her skin was flushing purple, and her wings were becoming darker. Chloe raised her hands and twin blades appeared; small j-shaped daggers clenched tightly in her hands.

The new demon seemed to find this funny because he laughed louder and stopped. Damion growled again.

"Answer me," he said quietly, gaining a strange calmness. "I know it's one of the devils. Which?"

"Shi shi shi," the blonde laughed. Then, the same stately, self-important voice purred, "Xanxus."

Tsuna shivered. There was obvious killing intent from this demon. Chloe shared a glance with Damion, who nodded. Damion lunged forward and tackled the blonde demon while Chloe turned and grabbed Tsuna's wrist. The Fallen protested but was dragged along by the infinitely more powerful demon.

Chloe had made it into the den when she shrieked in pain, a cut appearing on her cheek. She looked around frantically for the attacker and saw a silver knife protruding from the wall to her right. But she knew that wasn't what had cut her; it would have left a deeper wound.

She turned slowly, pushing Tsuna behind her.

"What do you want?" she hissed; it turned into a whistle halfway, making it less than threatening. Being a demon bird wasn't always the best.

"The Fallen you're trying vainly to protect," he stated bluntly.

Chloe shuddered in anger and for another reason altogether. Tsuna and the other demon watched as her arms grew less feathery, paling to a mix of peach and light blue; her face also softened considerably; her tail feathers gradually became one black, pointed demon's tail.

"Interesting. It will be extremely fun to kill you."

"I'm sure," Chloe said. "But, first, wouldn't you mind telling me the name of my assassin?" she asked sweetly.

The demon smiled, all teeth showing. Tsuna realized that the canines were sharpened to a perfect point.

"Bel."

--

Gokudera Hayato was immensely surprised. And startled.

There were freaks with wings walking around. Angel wings. No one else noticed them; he guessed they were invisible. Or he was crazy. Either one.

Gokudera stared at the nearest angel, who was half walking half skipping worriedly down the sidewalk. He – Gokudera assumed it was a male; he didn't know if they had genders – had soft blonde hair and was rather tall. He also seemed to be searching for something. One by one, he scanned every window of every business on the street, gaining an even deeper frown with every passing. Gokudera finally decided to stop staring when someone bumped into him and uttered several ugly words in his general direction.

He walked toward the winged individual slowly, watching it grow more frantic each second.

"Oi," he stated loudly. Several people looked around but kept walking when they figured he wasn't talking to them. The angel glanced briefly in his direction, obviously thinking Gokudera was looking at someone else. Gokudera gave a frustrated sigh. "Oi, freak with the wings."

This time the angel did turn to him. He pointed at himself and asked, "Me?"

Bypassers were staring strangely at Gokudera, but he ignored them. "Yeah. You. What're you looking for?"

A mother rushed her son past as he stopped to stare. Gokudera glared at the kid and walked closer to the weird guy no one else could see.

The blonde glanced around, making sure there was nobody else with wings. He then pulled Gokudera into an alley next to a bakery. "You can see me?"

"No. Of course I can't. I'm psycho."

"Ah. Sorry. It's just, no one else can see me," the angel explained. He muttered to himself, "This human must have an extremely large spirit."

Gokudera brow creased in annoyance. "Look, I asked what you're searching for. If I'm in fact not crazy, then you're obviously an angel. Which leads to the question of what you'd be looking for down here."

"Right, right. Well, I think I should introduce myself first." Gokudera gave a mumbled 'I didn't ask you to.' "I'm Spanner. I was sent to look for clues."

"Clues about what?" Gokudera asked curiously.

Spanner opened his mouth to answer, but never got the chance as a solid black mass ascended through the ground of the alley. The dark shape slowly lightened from head to foot: silver hair, pale skin, and a very white outfit. If not for the wings, Gokudera would have thought it was another angel; with giant, scaly, dark-red wings, this man was definitely a demon. Spanner snapped his mouth closed and took a step back.

"Now, now, Spanner. No need to spill all of Heaven's secrets. You might get a little... _trip_ if you keep talking," the newcomer said, smiling in an eerie way.

Being the only human there, Gokudera felt the smallest bit intimidated, but he let none of it show. He took one step back from the demon, staying closer to the angel. And the alley's opening.

Spanner spared him a glance before turning back to the demon. "Byakuran," he greeted. "I wasn't going to tell him everything. I'd rather not get sent down again."

Byakuran kept his smile the entire time; it was a wonder he could see where he was going when he stepped toward them. "Ah, but everyone misses you. And so does your little angel friend," he added, looking down to Spanner's hand which he snatched from view and hid behind his back.

"What do you know about him?"

"I know he's in safe hands," the demon stated, turning instead to Gokudera. "This is a human, is it? Exceptionally gifted. How strange we'd find one in this city." His smile grew, teeth showing menacingly. Gokudera backed up another pace.

"Now, wouldn't you rather join a demon? Your aura says nothing good of you."

--

Chloe groaned as she was sent flying, weapons clattering to the ground. Bel stood over her in triumph, twisting a knife in his hand. His pointed teeth could be seen perfectly with all the smiling he was doing.

Tsuna watched from the corner, shocked and concerned, but able to do nothing. He knew he still wasn't adjusted to being a demon and any powers or weapons would be useless in his hands. So all he did was stare as Chloe was beaten by this crazy demon.

"Shi shi shi. I thought this would be more fun, more of a challenge; I was wrong. But I guess I'll end your misery now," Bel drawled as he sent the knife he'd been toying with flying. It scraped her cheek and sank into the floor with a _thud_.

Chloe watched through squinted eyes, blood running down her face in torrents. Just as Bel was pulling another knife from the air, her eyes widened comically. Tsuna looked just as shocked.

With a loud sound, as though a hammer hitting wood, rang around the room, Bel fell backward. A dark, cast-iron pan clattered to the floor a few feet from his head.

"How sad – seriously, HOW SAD – must you be that I leave you alone for hardly any time and some strange-ass demon enters Reborn-san's home. To add to that, you fail at defeating said demon, and I'M stuck helping you," an annoyed voice echoed in the still air.

Tsuna turned to see yet another demon girl entering the room. She bent down to pick the pan up and turned to face Chloe.

This new demon had light gray skin, wings that were far more tame than Chloe's had been of black, matching tail (though it was a raven's this time), and bright blonde hair almost the same shade as her fellow demon's; but her hair covered one eye mysteriously, leaving a single glowing red iris to stare angrily at Chloe.

"Well, I'm sorry, Vaern. He wasn't exactly easy to beat; he's one of Xanxus'. Plus, if I hadn't been distracting him, you wouldn't have been able to knock him unconscious."

A fleeting look of fury flitted across Vaern's face. Then another new voice joined their conversation.

"Bel-senpai got knocked out by a frying pan. How very cliche."

They all whipped around to see a boy wearing a frog-like hat standing in the doorway that lead to the foyer. They watched as he crossed over to the fallen demon, grabbed a leg, and pulled him out; it almost seemed like he dragged his carelessly with how much furniture he let Bel's head hit. Tsuna, Chloe, and Vaern all had the same thought: who the hell was this guy?

"I'm Fran," he stated sedately, turning his head at the door. Then he was gone.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_Ahhhh, writer's block. Craaaap. Sorry it took so long. Hope I wrote Gokudera/Spanner/Fran okay. D:_

_Also, next chapter, posting a list of who's Angel/Demon/Human. Tried to do it this time, but failed jhngkfd Also, picture of Vaern (and don't worry; she's the last of my OCs, I PROMISE!!): http : // musicoffire . deviantart . com / art / Vaern - 120278730_

_MusicofFire  
_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Comments:_

_Soo.... Yeah. I have some serious inspiration for this fic now. I wanna warn it's gonna have a little, tiny snippet of something related to Supernatural. Just wanted to say. I'm gonna change it as best I can to pull it away from the real thing, but it'll probably still be similar. Anyway, yeah. Nothing much else to say... Reviews:_

**Tuna Kat** _I have no idea what pairings I'm putting in here, except for a specific one or two, but I don't wanna give them away. Other than that (directed to everyone:) I AM UP FOR SUGGESTIONS, GUYS. Seriously. I'm not really impartial to any pairing; I'll pretty much use any except for the ones I've already got set in my mind. So, feel free to give suggestions and all that. I don't mind._

**Lonely Kitty **_I know OCs_ _can get kinda annoying, and I'm done putting them in. They'll be minor characters soon; it's just that having my own characters with their own personalities that I control helps me write the others. Makes me feel more comfortable, I guess? But yeah, I'm done with them now._

**Masuda-san **_It could be changed to M.... I'd have to see how I feel about it farther in. We'll seeeee...._

**ShinigamiSquirrel **_I'm... not exactly sure what a 'Nephelium' (if that's what you meant) is. XD I guess I should just look it up, but I'm a lazy person. I'll do it later, I'm sure. But for right now, I'd say he's just pure human with a very high spirituality, I guess you could say? Something like that. He can see spirits and stuff. It will be explained later probably. :3_

_On to the chapter now? Yup! Oh, and the Angel/Demon list will be at the bottom of the chapter, in the other author's notes._

--

"Why would I join you?" Gokudera sneered, watching Byakuran's smiling face carefully. A flicker of annoyance past it; just the tiniest twitch of an eye, but it was gone in less than a second. "I'm human. I certainly don't want to be dragged down into Hell."

"Oh, but your kind always gets 'dragged down.' Every day there are new ones," Byakuran said, seemingly enjoying the thought of hundreds of humans being trapped in his domain day after day. "But, you see," he began slyly, "it is only rumor, gossip, of what happens to them. There are some who come down and are tortured (for rumors must have some truth), but not _all._ Certain, special – guests, are treated well. Pampered and waited on. Given what they want. But of course, no one knows about them; they never want to go back and tell their secrets to others less deserving than them. The Taken don't usually leave." His eyes opened at the last word, giving him a more sinister look.

Gokudera 's mind raced, and both Byakuran and Spanner could see him process this information without a shred of doubt.

Spanner grabbed roughly at his arm, trying to snap him out of it. He pulled Gokudera closer to the alley's entrance. "Don't listen to him," Spanner whispered. He was watching Byakuran warily. The demon just stood there serenely, hands in his pockets, smile planted firmly on his face. "He's a demon. They tempt humans with charmed words; pull them into a web of lies. They're all liars," he muttered vehemently, more to himself now. "Extremely good liars."

But Gokudera wasn't listening: with blank eyes, he stared at the garbage-littered ground, neither hearing nor seeing them anymore. Spanner knew he was dwelling on those pretty words, not of his own will, but of Byakuran's. The angel panicked. There wasn't anything he could do now.

Suddenly, the sound of rushing water filled the alleyway. Rain was falling but not wetting them; it enclosed the narrow space in its own dimension, wrenching it from the human world abruptly. Walls melted to white, trash disappeared. Byakuran was no longer smiling, but glaring at the white space they were now in. Gokudera still stared listlessly downward.

"Spanner!"

"Spanner-san!"

Three voices floated through the haze of white. Two were high and obviously girls while the third was slightly deeper. Spanner turned around and watched Kyoko, Haru, and Basil glide toward him; the two girls past him and went instead to Gokudera, checking his pulse and staring into his eyes worriedly.

"Yamamoto was monitoring the human town," Basil explained. "He noticed a demon's presence by you, along with a human's, so he told us to prepare a ward." He glanced at Byakuran.

The demon stopped walking around and looked to the two conversing angels. "I wasn't going to kill them," he said. His lips twitched back into their usual position. "I was just giving a proposal."

Basil motioned to Kyoko and Haru who backed away from Byakuran. The demon was approaching slowly, prowling toward them dangerously. He arrived at Gokudera's side, passing a pale hand over the boy's forehead. Gokudera dropped at the contact, landing face-first on the white floor.

"I think my proposal has been accepted." Byakuran turned to them. "I'll be taking my leave now."

"No!" the angels shouted, but they couldn't move. Even in there territory, the demon was too strong for them. Byakuran laughed at their hopelessness.

The sound of water again echoed through the air, but this time a torrent of water was falling in a single place. Yamamoto emerged from the water, perfectly dry. He took one looked at the situation and pulled his sword out, pointing it at Byakuran. A chill passed over him but didn't affect his movement.

"Serious, serious. Always so serious with you angels. You should learn to live a little," Byakuran sighed. Grabbing Gokudera by the back of his shirt, he lifted him bodily from the floor. Yamamoto watched helplessly as Byakuran disappeared with the human. A shock shot through him as he saw Gokudera's face before it was gone.

--

Tsuna was patching up Damion after their recent battle. The girls were resolutely staring in different direction and neither would raise a finger to help. Demion winced as Tsuna stuck a bandage onto his face.

"You know you don't need to do this. I'll heal fine without this stuff."

Tsuna sighed. "Well, it makes me feel better. And I need something to do."

"I'm gone for hardly three hours and my house ends up like this?"

All four jumped from their seats, looking to the open doorway leading to the den. Reborn leaned against the frame, surveying the kitchen and battered looks of his servants.

"Ah, Reborn-san!" Vaern chirped. She ran to his side. "Sadly, I had to help them out of the mess they'd gotten into. I was going to clean up before you got back, but you're kind of early." She shot a glare at Chloe.

Damion growled in annoyance, tail twitching irritably. "While we do owe you some gratitude, you hardly did anything."

Vaern stuck her tongue out. "I saved your asses from certain death!"

"What happened?"

They turned back to Reborn. Chloe walked closer, keeping her distance from Vaern. "You see, Reborn-san, we were attacked. I don't know how they found the house, but two demons entered. At first it was just one; he stated his name was Bel, and he worked for Xanxus. We attempted to fight him but lost. She," Chloe pointed to Vaern, "entered at just the right time and knocked him out. After that, another demon, calling himself Fran, dragged the other out. Tsuna was just fixing Damion up, then we were going to clear up."

Reborn glanced at Tsuna, who looked nervous. Damion stood their looking strange with bandages covering his arms and face.

"I see. Clean up. I'll go check the cloaking."

They watched him go into one of the black doorways.

--

Up in Heaven, Lal was impatiently awaiting news. They'd been searching for some shred of evidence. Well, not so much evidence anymore. They knew he'd fallen; now they wanted to know why.

No one could figure it out. It was the mystery that haunted them all. Why would an angel so pure and innocent and _young_ fall? What could he have possibly done on Earth to merit the disapproval of a higher power? No one knew. No one.

They'd recalled all angels except for a select few. Everyone now waited, lounging on clouds and watching the opening in the center.

Every now and then someone would get up and wander around, stretching their wings, but nothing had happened for quite some time. Ever since Hibari had come back, there had been no word on the others. And Hibari would talk to no one.

Lal yawned widely, eyes watering. Another day, another loss.

She waited another minute, watching intently the center circle. With a sigh of disappointment, she sat up and stretched her arms out; she stood slowly, wings unfolding from her back and also stretching out behind her. As Lal started to walk off, a soft flap of wings behind her made her turn swiftly. Yamamoto, accompanied by Spanner, Basil, Kyoko, and Haru, landed two feet from the opening. The waiting angels swarmed them, mostly asking Spanner questions.

Lal pushed her way through, parting the crowd easily. She reached the five angels and stood with hands on hips.

"Well?" she snapped. "What did you find?"

Spanner looked down. "Nothing pertaining to his falling, but there was a human that could see me."

The other angels started muttering.

"What did you do with him?"

"Byakuran found us. He's dragged the human down to Hell with him."

--

_Author's Comments:_

_fgjbfmd I dunnooo. Well, here's the list (compete since I don't feel like posting it multiple times; probably won't spoil anything):_

Angels:  
Tsuna [A]  
Yamamoto [R]  
Hibari [C]  
Ryohei [S]  
Colonello  
Lal  
Dino  
Basil  
Spanner  
Kyoko  
Haru

Demons:  
Mukuro [M]  
Reborn  
Xanxus [A]  
Squalo [R]  
Bel [S]  
Marmon [M]  
Levi [L]  
Lussuria [S]  
Byakuran [A]  
Fran [C]  
(Ken&Chikusa)

Humans:  
Gokudera  
Lambo  
Chrome  
Irie  
Fuuta [RP]  
Bianchi

_Don't mind the letters after their names, but ten points to anyone who can guess. ;D_

_MusicofFire_


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Comments:_

_Ahh.... I got less reviews than usual, so it made me kinda sad. But I'm alright now! I was also busy and stuff since my finals are next week, and I had no inspiration so that's why the update took so long. Revieews:_

**Masuda-san** _You're right on the mark, actually! It is the ring attributes. Tsuna, Xanxus, and Byakuran have an [A] after their names because they're Sky attribute, but I didn't wanna use sky. 'A' stands for 'All'. They have all the attributes pretty much._

**Bookworm1994** _Fuuta's is 'Ranking Planet'. Hmm... Just because he's young doesn't mean he died recently. Some angels aren't from dying souls; I'll explain it later in the fic. But yeah, Tsuna just happens to be younger than everyone else, so he's technically a 'young' angel. And you can tell me what you prefer. ;D I can't promise I'll write it, but I will surely think about it! If I can make it really interesting, than I'll definitely put it in. :3_

_Erm... Now, onto the story. Hope you like._

--

"Y-you know, I was thinking..."

"Were you now," came Vaern's snappish and mocking tone.

"Well, why can't I go up? To Earth, I mean."

His question was met by five dead-pan stares. Tsuna flinched at they looked at him like he was stupid.

Reborn was the first to speak, continuing to lounge on the comfortable couch with Vaern sitting close to him. "You can."

Tsuna frowned. "Then why can I never leave this house?"

"I never said you couldn't. You assumed so. You could have left before I even brought you here; you didn't."

"Oh..." Tsuna looked down at his knees. "So I can go up there if I want?"

"Sure," Reborn replied, yawning. He sat up slowly. "Be careful, though. You never know what could be lurking up there." With that, he stood and exited the room, Vaern following in his wake after sending a glare at Chloe.

Damion sat up from his place of resting his head in Chloe's lap. "Are you going to go up there now?"

"I think so."

Damion held his hand out, palm up. Tsuna stared at it. As he watched, small, almost unnoticeable, particles of light converged above the demon's palm. Slowly, an outline was formed. The figure filled in with blues, yellows, and reds; some blended and made other colors, giving the object depth. When it was finished forming, it turned out to be a multicolored dagger of some sort. Little etchings around the handle spelled out strange words and gruesome pictures. Damion made a gesture that said "Take it", so Tsuna reached out his hand and retrieved the bright weapon. As soon as it touched his skin, he felt a searing heat spread up his arm. He tried to drop it, but his muscles wouldn't respond. The heat faded and he loosened his grip on the dagger. Damion nodded, satisfied.

"That will keep me informed of where you are and if you're in trouble. Don't lose it; it might be the only thing keeping you from being captured by one of those devils."

Tsuna gulped, reflexively gripping the dagger tighter. The Fallen nodded, standing quickly and running from the room.

--

"Oh, this is horrible."

"It's not that bad. We can still reverse the situation."

"I don't think so, hey."

Lal watched the three males talk. She was sitting on a cloud shaped into a throne, elbows propped on her knees and head resting in her hands. Her wings rustled every now and then, betraying her restlessness.

"There isn't a need to be so negative."

"We're being realistic."

Lal sighed, catching the attention of her fellow angels. She stood from her chair, arms falling to her sides.

"You know the only way to get a human back from Hell is to send an angel down to retrieve them," she said exasperatedly. "We have angels to spare, yes, but none are strong enough to get past Byakuran."

They were silent for a moment.

"Why don't we bring a trade, hey?"

"Colonello! What kind of talk is that for an angel?"

"Just a suggestion." Colonello raised his hands in defense.

"Dino," Lal addressed the blonde. He looked to her expectantly. "Try to find an angel willing to do it; a strong one, most likely clever enough to get through Byakuran's home and manage to get the human without alerting that demon. It does not have to be one off duty. We can always replace them with an extra for as long as it takes to accomplish this mission. Also, they will need to report to me before they leave." Dino nodded, taking his leave. Lal sighed again. "And if all else fails, we will fall back onto Colonello's suggestion."

Colonello smirked.

"What?! But, Lal–"

"Basil, I'm sure we can find a replacement that will already be heading for Hell. It won't hurt the balance."

Basil looked uncertain, but nodded.

"You two can leave." Lal waved a dismissive hand and sat down heavily on her cloud-throne.

--

Tsuna climbed through the dark circle that connected Earth and Hell. He placed a hand over the edge, feeling around for something to hold on to. He felt a patch of grass and wound his fingers into the green. With a great pull, he was out of the blackness, a great clump of grass and dirt hanging from his hand. Tsuna threw it aside and climbed up the small hill hiding him from the city. He dusted himself off as he got to the top. The Fallen smiled warmly, enjoying the sun on his skin. It had been almost two weeks since he'd seen this place.

Tsuna stretched languidly, staring up at the sky. His home was up there somewhere, but he couldn't remember how to get there anymore. It was erased from his mind when he woke up in the dull, red glow of Hell.

A bird flew over his head, chirping happily, and landed nearby on the ground. It hopped about, pecking the dirt every few seconds. Tsuna smiled and stretched out a hand toward the bright red robin. It gave a screech of fear and flew away. Tsuna's mouth fell open in shock; birds had flocked to him when he was here last time.

"Demon," someone whispered behind him.

The Fallen whipped around, looking for the source. An old lady was standing on the sidewalk that ran along the hill, glaring at him with narrowed eyes. Tsuna didn't know what to say.

"Demon," she repeated. When he didn't answer, she went on, "Animals can always tell. They fear the likes of you."

Tsuna watched her go sadly. So that's why the bird fled...

After standing on the hill for a few silent minutes, Tsuna shook himself and stumbled down the steep slope. At the bottom he found a clearing with benches and picnic tables. A few people were scattered about, eating and talking. Tsuna walked quickly through them, keeping his eyes down. A dog tied to a nearby bench growled in warning then started to bark loudly. The family tried to calm him down, giving Tsuna dirty looks as they obviously thought he was the cause.

Once out of the park, it was easy sailing. He walked along the streets sedately; no one even glanced at him. They were too busy trying to get home.

A few people bumped into him as he walked slowly, throwing him annoyed looks and cursing. Tsuna just tried to be as small as possible. Eventually, after the fifth time, he remembered he could easily fix this. He concentrated on his back, willing his wings to appear there. Immediately, there was a small _poof_ as his wings materialized. Tsuna looked back at them sadly: they were no longer beautiful white angel's wings, but dark, ugly demon's. But at least his problem was solved. No one bumped into him anymore. They passed through him like smoke, shivering as they walked quickly away. No more cursing or unpleasant faces.

"Tsuna!"

The Fallen jumped in fright. The humans couldn't see him anymore. That meant it had to be some supernatural creature (like himself, for instance). He glanced of his shoulder, seeing a dark head of hair and vibrantly blue wings before he was engulfed in a hug.

"Tsuna! I can't believe it's you!"

Tsuna gasped for air, pushing at the arms around his neck. Whoever it was let him go with a laugh. He gulped down much-needed air and looked up.

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna exclaimed.

--

Byakuran reclined in his favorite chair, watching the human sleep. He was so normal compared to everything else in the room. Byakuran smirked. This human wouldn't stay that way for long if he had any say. Which he did.

The demon got up from his chair, meandering over to where Gokudera lay, completely defenseless in his slumber. He pet his hair mockingly.

Gokudera grumbled in his sleep and turned away from Byakuran hand.

The devil-in-training just smiled.

A few more seconds of watching the human, and Byakuran left the room. He walked down a flight of stairs, took a right down a long hall, and stepped down another staircase. He found himself in the kitchen.

"Hmm. What to fix?" Byakuran hummed to himself as he opened the door to the refrigerator that had just appeared at his right. He pulled out a few items and slammed it shut, turning as it disappeared. He dropped his selections right as a counter materialized in front of him. The demon stared at the food, flipping through the choices in his head. A small, bell-like sound resounded around the house. Byakuran looked up, nodded, and the food and counter vanished. He'd have to fix lunch later.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_Umm... Seriously random ending, but I didn't feel like writing any more. XD Sorry. Soo, what do you thiink? Hmm? You know, I enjoy reviews immensely. -hint hint- Looong reviews. I wanna know what you think and why, et cetera et cetera. Anyway, love you all for being so nice to me and for all the love on this fic!_

_MusicofFire_

_P.S. On the off-chance I don't update this over the next week, I'm leaving for Disney on the 29__th__. Which means there will be no updating for a week. D: I'll be sure to write whenever I can while I'm there (between me having fun and relaxing...) But yeah, don't expect any chapters in that time. I'm gonna try to update once or twice before then, though, so you won't be without chapters for TOO long. We'll see what happens._


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Comments:_

_Yaaay! Probably the last time I'll update before Disney. D:_

_A note about Byakuran's house: IT'S AWESOME. You see, it rearranges itself every time a person enters a different room. It could be two stories, three, one; it could be really big or, like, only two rooms (never less than that). Either way, it changes every time. Of course, Byakuran can control how it rearranges (if he wants to). A select few others can do it, too. Also, things likes chairs (or the refrigerator and counter from last chapter) and tables and stuff appear whenever he wants. Yeah. Awesome house. I want it. D:_

_On to other things, though:_

**Masuda-san** _Nah, it isn't gonna be 10059. For some reason, that pairing kinda scares me... XD Anyway, Byakuran is just gonna use Gokudera as a sort of bait for the angels._

**Bookworm1994**_ Thanks! I will have fun, I hope. Last time I went, I was about two or something, so I don't remember anything. D: I better have a good time when I go. :D_

**Tuna Kat**_ Thanks, but I had to learn a lot to get where I am. It helps that English is my best subject in school, I guess. I'm sure you could be a good writer, too! It takes practice like everything else. :3_

--

Lal was striding along the sea of clouds impatiently when a watcher angel appeared before her. She stopped abruptly at the anxious look on the girl's face.

"We've been monitoring angel Yamamoto Takeshi on his trip down. He was heading for the portal when he stopped and turned in the other direction. Somehow, we hadn't noticed it before, but there was a demon present in the vicinity. Angel Yamamoto went toward it and seems to be interacting. The thing is, it had a strange energy signature."

"What do you mean by 'strange'?" Lal asked, dreading the answer. Usually the only demons with 'strange' energy read-outs were strong ones, like DiTs. She couldn't understand why Yamamoto would talk to one of them.

"Well, you see... It, um, sort of mixes. It's hard to explain. You might want to come see for yourself," the younger girl said.

Lal sighed and followed the other to the monitoring space. A few angels sat watching machines that resembled televisions. The screens were filled with weird shapes and many colors. The watcher angel walked to an empty seat and sat down; she pushed a few buttons to bring up an image.

Lal stared at the monitor clearly showing the human town far below them. There were blobs of color moving haphazardly. Most of the screen was covered by a solid, pulsating green mass: two small blotches of color stood out in the bottom right. One was a vibrant white outlined in blue. The other was strange, just how her fellow angel had described.

It was shining like Yamamoto's energy signature, but it was black. The outline consisted of a dull gray and many bright colors mixed into a rainbow. These two continuously twisted and swirled around the black core.

"It's a demon, we're sure by the core color. But the outer energy field confuses us. It should tell us the element of the angel or demon, but it is... It contains every color in the spectrum, and gray has no element attached. It is null. Oh, and watch." She pointed to the screen.

Lal observed quietly. Nothing happened for a few minutes; she was about to ask what the girl was talking about, but shut her mouth with a snap as the screen changed.

The bright dot that was Yamamoto had moved closer to the demon's signature: it was obvious he had touched the demon in some way. Instantly, the demon's energy flashed. It turned bright –almost white– blue for a couple of seconds. Then Yamamoto moved and it darkened.

"It happens every time the demon is touched."

"Who's the expert on this?" Lal asked the angels. They shrugged.

One angel raised his hand tentatively. "Risen Angel Spanner. He was the one who created these."

"Well, someone go get him!" Lal snapped.

Another angel scurried away to retrieve Spanner.

They all waited silently. Lal kept tapping her foot and flapping her wings irritably until Spanner popped into view. He hurried toward her.

"What?"

"This." She pointed to the monitor, where the demon's blob of color was glowing again. "What does it mean?"

Spanner moved closer. He watched the interaction as everyone held their breath. After five minutes, he pressed a button and the colors changed. Yamamoto was now a dark blue ringed in a green that almost blended with the rest of the screen. The demon had turned light blue on one half of the core, black on the other. The outer was a bright yellow. Spanner shut the screen off after another minute of studying.

"It's not a demon," he said finally.

Lal didn't answer; she expected him to finish.

"At least, it wasn't always one."

The other angels gasped. One of them spoke up, voice shaking.

"So... Are you saying t-that energy is Fallen Angel Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Spanner nodded.

--

Byakuran entered the room to find five new demons crowding the human, who still wasn't awake. They were conversing loudly, staring at him like human was a disease they might catch. Byakuran plopped down into the chair he'd sat in earlier and laughed.

Immediately, the five demons turned to face him, all shutting their mouths.

"I see you're back," he said, lazily reaching into the air and withdrawing a marshmallow from a bowl that appeared on the arm of his chair. "But you've missed all the fun."

They glanced back at Gokudera.

Byakuran smiled. "No, no. Not that human. That was just a – business venture. The real fun," he put the marshmallow to his lips, licking it before taking it into his mouth and chewing slowly; after swallowing, he continued, "is the angel that happened to wander down here."

--

"Yamamoto, what are you doing down here?"

The traffic past with honks and beeps and chatter, but nobody bothered them. They were in there own separate dimension. People went strait through them without being any the wiser. Yamamoto looked extremely happy to see Tsuna; he was smiling wider than Tsuna had ever seen.

"Lal sent me down to go save a human who got captured by Byakuran."

"A human?"

"Yeah. This human who was able to see Spanner–" Yamamoto started, but Tsuna cut through his story.

"What was Spanner doing down here?" he asked worriedly, clenching his right hand tightly. Short nails left crescent-shaped marks in his palm.

Yamamoto shrugged, smiling. 'Lal sent him to scout around."

Tsuna nodded, uncurling his fist.

"Anyway, he found this human who could see him, but Byakuran showed up. I took them from the human realm and trapped Byakuran in a barrier. He got out, though, and he took the human with him."

"Did anyone identify him?"

"Lal said his name was Gokudera Hayato," Yamamoto answered.

For some reason, the name rang a bell, but Tsuna couldn't remember when or where he'd heard it.

Yamamoto leaned his elbow on Tsuna's shoulder as they started to walked aimlessly down the street. An odd shiver past the Fallen, and he shrugged the arm off. Yamamoto was unfazed by this behavior.

"So, what're you doing up here?"

Tsuna looked up. "I was just... I wanted to see the sky again. Hell isn't exactly the best place for that. Plus, just staying in a house all day gets boring."

"But you're safe, right?"

"For the most part."

They walked in silence for a while, turning to head back the way Tsuna had come. It suddenly hit him how awkward this situation should be. Yamamoto was part of the reason he fell; if he hadn't been talking to some other angel and watching Tsuna like he was supposed to, Tsuna would be up in Heaven, safe and happy (not that he was horribly depressed or anything, angels were usually happy no matter what and he was still an angel... technically). But it wasn't like that. Tsuna didn't blame Yamamoto at all. It might have been partly his fault, but Tsuna had been expressly forbidden by Lal to go down to Earth unaccompanied. He should have listened to her.

Tsuna tuned back in as they scaled the hill protecting the portal. Yamamoto was still chattering away, but he wasn't sure what about. Anyway, if it was important, he'd have waited for Tsuna to say something sooner or later.

They stopped in front of the hole; it was completely black. No light, no sound. Nothing. But they both knew where it lead. Tsuna didn't want to go back, and Yamamoto's smile faded slightly. Tsuna shook his head and sat down with his feet dangling in the blackness. He shot a look over his shoulder before pushing himself off.

It felt like he was falling through water. The descent was slow and there were waves of energy crashing around him and washing over him, checking the Fallen. The waves stopped and he continued, falling steadily. A second later, he was in front of the gates to Hell, landing softly on the phosphorescent ground. Tsuna was about to press a hand to the gate, but stopped to wait for Yamamoto.

The angel fell rather harshly from the spot of black in the 'sky'. His wings popped into view gracefully, flapped a few times, and brought him safely to the ground. The wings gave off a bright glow that fractured the red light around the angel.

Once safely on the ground, Yamamoto's wings folded against his back, but did not disappear. He dusted himself off and joined Tsuna in front of the imposing gates.

Tsuna glanced at the bright blue wings. "Aren't you going to hide them?"

"Nah. They're like a cloaking device down here, like in the human world."

"Oh, okay..." He pressed a palm to the giant wall of iron and it creaked open. They entered the realm. Tsuna headed northwest, but Yamamoto turned to head east.

"I guess I'll see you later," he said in parting.

Tsuna watched him disappear in the red darkness gloomily.

--

Squalo idly sat on the couch, his head on the armrest. He had nothing to do. Xanxus didn't feel the need to go after the Fallen at the moment; he said it would be useless with Reborn guarding the 'damn thing'.

So he was left to lounge in the house and watch the gate. With watching the gate came watching the portal to and from Earth which he did not enjoy doing. It was boring work as only demons knew where to find the portal. The last time anything different made its way in was hundreds of years ago, when they still had a devil in the king's seat.

Squalo looked over to the tapestry hanging form the wall as it gave a low hum. A demon was coming back from Earth. Then a high-pitched shrieking started. Squalo shot up, staring at the trashy decoration in disbelief.

Something else had managed to get into Hell. And if he was assuming correctly, it was following the previous demon.

He ran out the door, grabbing his weapon from where it was laid out on the coffee table. The demon shot down hall after hall, eventually giving up running and gliding quickly along. Why did Xanxus have to stay on the _other side_ of the mansion?

Finally, he burst through a set of double doors, walking in on Xanxus relaxing in a high-backed chair. Xanxus glared at him.

"You better have a good reason for this, trash."

"Shut up. We've got an intruder and as you rule over the damn entrance, it's your fucking problem," Squalo growled, the air in the room becoming dense with moisture.

"Then take someone else and get your ass out there," Xanxus said. "And take your stupid water with you." He waved a hand through the air, catching drops of water.

Squalo stalked out of the room, water following him, and slammed the doors.

He walked huffily down a few halls before banging violently on a door. It opened, revealing a rather flamboyant demon.

"Lussuria, we're going. There's an intruder. Get your ass ready," he said shortly.

Lussuria danced away into his room.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_Oh, the Varia are perfect for going on a cursing spree. 8D Tsuna might seem a little OOC in this chapter. Maybe 'cause he's not being a wimp or something? XD Well, last chapter until... I think about two weeks... Yeah, something like that. Sorrry!! You'll get a reeeeally long chapter when I get back, though, so wait for it. :D_

_ONE MORE DAAAY and I'll be FREEE. School's almost out! And just one more exam to take. Yay!_

_MusicofFire_


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Comments:_

_Well, I definitely had fun at Disney. :D But we did so much every day and I practically collapsed whenever I hit the bed in the hotel that I never wrote anything. The only thing I wrote were a few notes so I wouldn't forget a story I told my friend. Heh. (It was one crazy story, too...)_

_Anywaaay:_

**Lonely Kitty**_ I loved the Pirate's ride. X3 And the Haunted one was fun, too. And I dunno why Tsuna isn't happier.... He just isn't. Lol. And since you like pretty much anyone with Tsuna, I hope you'll be happy with who I've picked. I've kinda been dropping hints throughout the chapters of who's with who. Maybe there not as obvious as I thought? Weeell, they are there all right; you should look for them. Be sure to remember what was in the first chapter about mates. ;D_

**nachan**_ Yamamoto's going to rescue Gokudera. Angels can't just witness something like a demon kidnapping a human and not help them, so he's been picked to go get Gokudera back. And it's not so easy as taking the Fallen from Hell. A demon's a demon unless they're redeemed. Hope that helps._

_Weeeee. I had such grand plans for this chapter. Hope they worked out. Have fun reading!_

--

Tsuna slowly made his way back to Reborn's house, hoping not to get lost. All of Hell looked the same to him.

He stopped to survey the area. It looked exactly the same as the previous stop he made. Tsuna sighed and sat down. He was getting nowhere fast. Maybe if he had a map...

"Voii! You!"

Tsuna gave a jolt of surprise, rushing to stand up and stumbling in the process. A hand caught his arm to keep him up.

"Now, now, little Fallen. No need to run," a new voice purred in his ear.

Tsuna gasped and tugged his arm from the stranger's grip. He looked back to see Squalo and a rather... bright demon next to him. He had bright green hair, and what Tsuna would call bright red feathers ringing the neck and cuffs of his coat. He also wore red-rimmed sunglasses.

"Did you just come down from Earth?" Squalo pushed past Lussuria and stared intently at Tsuna.

The Fallen gulped and nodded.

Squalo growled, the air around them becoming moist. "And did you bring anything else with you?"

Tsuna averted his gaze, but that was all the answer he needed to give. Squalo swore loudly and picked Tsuna up around the waist, carrying him under one arm. Tsuna flailed and sputtered as the demon carried him back the way he'd come. He tried to pry Squalo's arm from around his stomach, but Squalo just moved his sword closer to Tsuna's neck in warning. It shut him up immediately.

They –meaning Squalo and Lussuria– walked quickly and purposefully toward the gates that Tsuna had entered through not long before. Lussuria pressed a hand to them (as Squalo's were occupied with holding Tsuna and carrying his sword) and the gates creaked open ominously. The demons past through and hung a left, going in the opposite direction of the portal. Tsuna watched the glowing ground pass by quietly, the demons' feet hardly making any noise. They stopped briefly and Tsuna glanced up, but nothing was there. Lussuria grabbed something in the air and pulled; they entered.

Immediately, the beautifully furnished interior of a house came into view. Squalo waved Lussuria away; the other demon pouted but left. Tsuna was carried down a long hallway and through countless corridors. All he could do was watch the plush carpet and polished wooden floors pass his vision. Eventually, they came to an abrupt halt.

Squalo dropped Tsuna unceremoniously onto the floor. Tsuna sat up slowly, holding his head where it had hit the floor. He looked up to where Squalo was standing before a set of heavy wooden doors; he seemed to be debating with himself whether to go in or not.

"Get in here, trash. And bring whatever's with you."

Squalo glared at the door then grabbed Tsuna by the collar and dragged him into the room. He threw the Fallen rather violently an Xanxus' feet.

"This," he looked pointedly at Tsuna, "is what brought that other thing in."

Xaxnus dropped his feet to the floor, sitting up fully. He looked Tsuna over; the brunette had to shift his gaze away nervously. The demon's stare was intense.

Finally, he sat back and Tsuna gave a quiet sigh of relief. But Xanxus was still watching him intently. Actually, he was staring at Tsuna's right hand which he was using to prop himself up. The tattoo gave off a soft glow in the dim light of the room.

Squalo was also watching the Fallen. He snapped his head up when Xanxus addressed him.

"Who keeps the records down here?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Squalo answered.

"Well, find out idiot. And get someone to take this out of my room," Xanxus ordered, glancing to Tsuna.

Tsuna glared half-heartedly at the demon. He turned to watch Squalo leave and heard him mumble something that sounded suspiciously like 'Why'd it have to be him. Asshole.'

And then he was left alone with Xanxus.

Tsuna sat there awkwardly, glancing every now and then at the devil-in-training who seemed completely oblivious to his presence. Seeing as the demon wasn't paying him any attention, he started to scoot away from the chair. He got as far as a few feet before he ran into a pair of legs. Tsuna looked up to see the demon that had broken into Reborn's home.

Bel leaned down making Tsuna back up a few inches.

"Shi shi shi. The Prince will have fun with you," Bel chimed. He straightened up and turned his eyes to Xanxus. Or Tsuna thought so; he couldn't tell what with Bel's eyes being covered completely by his blonde bangs. "Boss."

Xanxus' only sign that he'd heard was a swivel of his eyes toward Bel. Tsuna was dragged up by Bel's hand on his upper arm. The Fallen didn't even bother to struggle at this point.

"Bel-senpai should be nicer. You'll scare him."

Tsuna swivelled around to face Fran, who had just entered the room. Bel also faced him; his smile lessened, giving him an unhappier look.

"Be quiet. I'm sure Squalo already frightened him. What's wrong with scaring him a bit more?" Bel's smile brightened when he saw Tsuna shudder.

"Get out already fuckers."

They looked back at Xanxus, who was glaring at them. Bel laughed and pushed Tsuna through the door with Fran following them.

--

Yamamoto stood in front of the very deceiving pure white cottage, staring at the spotless door. Even with the glow from the ground, it still managed to retain it's white color. But that's demons for you.

Pulling his wings closer to his body, Yamamoto fixed his eyes on the doorknob. Reaching out a hand, he grabbed the –what a surprise– white handle and twisted then pushed. The door opened without a noise. Yamamoto could see only a little way into the house; beyond a few feet, it was pitch black. Not being daunted, he stepped forward, crossing the threshold. The door slammed shut behind him. He whipped around but couldn't see anything. Immediately, his wings started to emit a soft glow, giving him at least a little idea of what he was walking into.

Yamamoto carefully walked through a doorway and felt the floor shift. It didn't move enough to make him fall; it was subtle. Lights flickered on around him.

He closed his eyes briefly to shield from the intense light. After adjusting, Yamamoto took a good look at his surroundings.

This room wasn't white like he expected. Most everything in it was a blood-red. The drapes covering the windows, the single chair and small table. Even the carpet and walls. The only thing that wasn't was a single white orchid sitting in a red vase on the table.

There were two other doorways. Yamamoto picked the one straight ahead and entered.

Once again, the floor gave a jolt and lights flared. The new room was completely opposite the one he'd just left. Soft blues and oranges covered every surface. Two ornamental lamps stood either side a large sofa. A bookcase was in the right corner, books stacked haphazardly on the shelves. And again, there were two exits.

Yamamoto sighed. He took the left one this time. As he exited, the door that had led to the red room shimmered and turned black.

This time, the floor literally moved. As soon as his foot his the wood of the next room, he was dragged from his place and forced to hover above the ground using his wings. The lights flickered on, casting a purple glow over the otherwise white room. Only one thing was in this room: a white lily. It didn't even have a vase. It was just laying on the floor. Looking down, Yamamoto could see the wooden panels moving slowly. If he'd stayed on it, he would have run right into a wall.

Landing on another part of the floor, he could see there were no doors other than the one he'd come through. He was starting to get frustrated. Demon or not, how much could they possibly make this cottage expand?

"Well, just gotta go back, I guess," Yamamoto muttered to himself. Flying back through the doorway as to avoid the moving floor.

That's when he noticed that, obviously, these demons were better than expected.

The blue and orange room he'd come from was no longer. Replacing it was a simple kitchen. And when I saw simple, I mean _simple._ There were two stools, right next to each other. That was it. No other furniture. The only other thing that occupied the kitchen (if you could even call it that; the only identifying feature was the black and white checkered floor that was somehow expectant of kitchens) was a staircase.

Now that did not make any sense. Yamamoto was baffled. From the outside, it certainly didn't look like it had a second floor. But there was no other way to go. Even the door he'd entered from had disappeared somewhere.

So he climbed the white carpeted stairs.

Emerging onto the small landing, he saw one door. He walked to it and opened it without a second thought.

The back of a decorated chair greeted him. The soft breaths of a resting human caught his ears and he walked to look around the chair. The human he'd been looking for was sleeping peacefully on a double bed. No one else was in the room.

Walking past the chair, Yamamoto kneeled down next to the bed. He rested his elbows on the mattress, watching the silver-haired human sleep.

He realized he was staring and pulled away from the bed. The angel was about to get up when a voice rang out behind him.

"Oh. Now what could an angel possibly being doing down here? And in my home, no less?"

Yamamoto was about to turn when a hand grabbed his wrist, pulling him around. He heard a chuckle as a knee slammed into his gut violently. He was released, dropping to the ground and clutching his stomach.

Byakuran's smile was almost glowing as he bent down and flipped Yamamoto over by pulling his light blue wing harshly. The demon was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath.

"Trying to steal him away? Isn't that against the rules?" Byakuran purred.

The angel was still trying to catch his breath as the demon above him smiled, eyes opening sinisterly. Calming down, Yamamoto let his hands fall from his midsection. His eyes hardened, becoming serious.

"I thought it was against the rules to forcefully bring a human down here."

Byakuran laughed outright, falling back into the chair placed beside the bed. He watched Yamamoto slowly sit up, rubbing his stomach and checking for damage.

"I see you know how to play games. I didn't expect it from such a... laid back angel." Byakuran lost his smile then, gaining a serious and deadly air. "I'd say it's much more against the rules to have one of _you_ come and try to take my prize away. He came willingly, if not with a bit of persuasion."

Finally, Yamamoto was able to stand up. He winced as his abused muscles stretched but kept his place.

Byakuran's teeth slowly showed themselves again. "Let's make a deal, hmm?"

"What kind of deal?" Yamamoto asked warily. He knew what kind of tricks demons could use; with a DiT, he didn't know what would happen.

"Let's say I'll give you the human." Byakuran leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, fingertips pressing together. He never stopped smiling. "If you can get out of my house in under ten minutes, the human is yours. If you can't, or you end up back in this room, well... Let's just say you won't be very lucky."

There had to be some kind of catch, Yamamoto knew. Something about the house...

And then it hit him. The rooms he'd crossed through, the giant difference in all of them. And when he'd went back, the room he'd seen before was gone. This house changed every time he entered a new room. How could he possibly find his way out of this labyrinth?

"Scared?" came Byakuran's satisfied voice, interrupting his thoughts.

Yamamoto focused back to the present. "No. I accept."

"Oh?" The demon raised an eyebrow. With a sweep of his hand in the air, like he was grabbing something, a stopwatch appeared in his clenched fingers. Thumb poised over the button at the top, he looked at Yamamoto. "Well? Get started." He pressed the start button.

Yamamoto stood there stupidly for a second. He realized that he should be moving and ran out of the room.

He was no longer on the landing with the staircase that lead to the kitchen. Instead, a pristine infirmary met his eyes. Perfectly made beds and cabinets with medicine and bandages. ('Why do demons need this?' crossed Yamamoto's mind).

The angel only took a second to take in his surroundings. One door.

Exiting through it, he found himself back in the red room. The white orchid was gone, replaced by two flowers, both white: a begonia and monkshood.

Byakuran was taunting him.

Taking the door he hadn't taken before, he emerged in a dark room. Not in the sense that there were no lights but that all the walls were black along with the floor. The sofa blended in almost perfectly with the wall behind it, if not for the silver jewels embedded in the armrest.

After several bare rooms, Yamamoto was getting frustrated. Byakuran could almost certainly control what would appear. The question was, was he doing that now?

As he entered a new room, a piece of paper was floating in the middle of the room. The sound of a ticking clock permeated the walls, resounding, echoing. It was annoying him.

Snatching the piece of paper, he read:

"_Of course I'm not manipulating the rooms. I can, of course, but that would be cheating, now wouldn't it?"_

Yamamoto could imagine Byakuran's smug smile.

The ticking became louder and the same stopwatch that he'd seen earlier dropped from the ceiling. He caught it reflexively. It informed him that he only had a little over five minutes and sank through his palm.

Sighing, Yamamoto walked across the room and through another door.

This continued for another three minutes. In and out, dead end, backtrack, in another door and through a few more.

Yamamoto wasn't one to give up, but even he could see his attempt was futile. After being reminded that he only had one minute left, he decided to try again.

He thought only of getting out and saving Gokudera when entering the next room.

Opening his eyes (he hadn't known he closed them), a bizarre sight met his eyes: the room was split in two. Not by a wall or anything. Just that half was the room he'd left Byakuran and Gokudera in, and the other half was the exit to this damned house.

Byakuran looked mildly surprised. He surveyed the other part of the room he was now in. Then he looked back at Yamamoto.

"You've got thirty seconds."

The angel was surprised. He would have thought this counted as 'ending up back in the room'. Not like he was complaining.

With a smile, he went to the door, relieved to be heading outside, out of this crazy house.

A loud buzzing sounded as he opened the door and made to step out. His time was up.

Byakuran chuckled sadistically, stopwatch sitting on his palm. "Should we call that a tie, angel?"

Yamamoto finally had enough. He drew his sword, eyes flashing.

Byakuran laughed as his smile grew. "Isn't that cheating?" His wings –white, wouldn't you know– spread behind him as he stood up. He snapped his fingers and the human floated to his side, suspended in the air as if held by strings. Yamamoto got into a fighting stance, ready to attack.

He didn't expect Byakuran to glide past him and out his own front door, Gokudera's limp form following obediently.

Yamamoto sheathed his sword and followed after them.

--

Byakuran soared high above the other demons, wings flapping every minute or two. The gates came into view. He sent a burst of energy from his palm and they opened in time for him to slip through with his captive. Looking back, he saw the angel slip past the doors just as they closed. He sure was following him closely.

His white wings carried him higher and higher, right through the Earthbound portal. Up he went, flying happily in the darkness. The walls expanded to fit his wingspan.

And then he was out in the open, fresh air of the human world. Straight up into the clouds.

Yamamoto was still close behind, he could feel.

Byakuran decided to have some fun. He turned sharply to the right, skimming clouds and gaining distance from the angel pursuing him. He watched the buildings pass sluggishly before spotting a good area and diving down gracefully. Yamamoto mirrored his actions.

Or course, the whole time this was going on, Gokudera was sleeping. When he felt the pull on his stomach like he was free-falling, his mind decided to kick him awake. With the air of being rudely awakened, Gokudera opened his eyes, blinking sleep out of them. He was greeted with the sight of clouds growing distant, wind rushing against his back, and –was that a bird that just flew past?

Panicking, he managed to flip his upper body enough to look down. And he really regretted it.

The first thing he saw was the ground rushing toward him: people moving along the streets, buildings shooting from the ground. He could sort of make out the chatter and noise from the road below. But none of that mattered because he was _FALLING._

Reaching out to the nearest thing, which happened to be Byakuran, Gokudera wrapped his arms around the white-haired demon's waist.

Byakuran was genuinely startled when he felt arms encircle him. He looked down to see the human practically clinging on to him for dear life. It amused him, but it was messing with his flight, so he pushed Gokudera away. He didn't take kindly to that and latched onto his arm. Byakuran glared at the human and shook him lose. He could wait a few more seconds; they were almost to the ground.

At last, Byakuran pulled up and fluidly dropped the few inches to the ground. Gokudera followed shortly after, though he fell gracelessly onto his behind, cursing quite colorfully.

Yamamoto touched down feet from them, drawing his sword again. Byakuran smiled at him, dragging Gokudera away from the angel.

"What are we to do now? Out in the human world, even invisible like we are, our elements can still affect their world."

Yamamoto drew his sword up, posing for battle.

"Fine then, angel. We'll see how well you fight."

--

"Lal! Laaal!"

"Lal!"

Lal was getting pissed with all the people calling her name.

"Lal!"

"What!?" She finally had enough.

"We've got an emergency," one of the worker angels shouted.

Chaos had again broken out in Heaven. Angels were running all over the place, passing on a message that stemmed from the watcher angels. And it was just now getting to her ears.

"There's a crisis down on Earth!" a messenger angel panted as he caught up to her.

"Byakuran's emerged from Hell. Yamamoto's with him. And he brought the human," Colonello informed her, appearing by her side.

"What are they doing on Earth? I told Yamamoto to get in, get out, and return," Lal seethed. Why could that idiot not follow orders.

"It seems Byakuran emerged with the human Gokudera Hayato and Yamamoto was pursuing them. It's safe to say he didn't get in unnoticed."

"Whatever. I'm going down there. Get some others and follow after me," Lal ordered, jumping through the hole in the clouds.

Colonello watched her go, shaking his head. He went to find some others to go with him.

--

Lal glided quickly to the area she could see rain clouds gathering. Yamamoto must be mad, she thought.

Landing about a block away, she ran the rest and arrived in time to see Yamamoto charging toward Byakuran, who was unarmed and looking unafraid. The human she'd been told about was standing closer to Byakuran, looking for all the world like he'd rather be somewhere else but not moving. She guessed the demon had done something to keep him there.

Lal noticed that the rain clouds were producing rain. They were just swirling. Wait, swirling? She watched as a funnel cloud swept past and started to elongate, reaching for the ground. Yamamoto certainly wasn't causing that. And neither was Byakuran.

She turned to the panicking human, who was watching Yamamoto try to hit Byakuran, but failing horribly. Byakuran just side-stepped every strike. Lal could see a grey aura around the human's head. So _he _was causing the storm.

Hearing a grunt of pain, Lal turned back to the battle.

Byakuran had caught Yamamoto's sword and delivered a swift kick to his stomach, sending him flying. It was time for her to intervene.

"Byakuran!"

Byakuran looked round and smiled at her. "Ah, Lal. How nice to see you again."

Lal didn't think it was nice at all. "We've come to negotiate the freeing of that human, so leave my ally alone."

Several pairs of feet were heard running toward her, but Lal didn't turn. She kept her eyes firmly on Byakuran; the demon was smarter than his other two DiTs.

"Hm. And what do you have to negotiate with?"

Colonello came into her peripheral vision holding an envelope. He tossed it to the white-winged demon. Byakuran opened it and leafed through, raising his eyebrows.

"A trade? How... unlike you angels."

"Well, they're going down anyway. Why not, hey?" Colonello answered.

Byakuran shrugged and set the papers on fire. "None of these will do."

Lal followed the burning pieces of paper with her eyes, staring incredulously as they hit the pavement and turned to ash. She turned her eyes back to Byakuran. He was going over every human passing them. Finally, he pointed to one. An orange-haired teen wearing a stained white shirt and white pants.

"I want him." Byakuran was smiling sadistically again.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_Not much to say. :x Hope you liked._

_Oh, and the thing with the begonia and monkshood: those flowers mean something. Look up "language of flowers" on google and you can find out what they mean. ;D_

_MusicofFire_


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Comments:_

**bloodeternal1015**_ The couples will get more and more obvious. Like in this chapter. They're VERY obvious. 8D_

**queen86** _Yup. He's a special human, as are a few others that haven't come in yet. And you'll find out what happened to Tsuna in this chapter. ;D Finally! Someone notices the tattoos! Those are important. Seriously seriously importaaaaant. Props to you. :3_

_So yeeeeaaaaaah............. The only excuse I have is having writer's block. :/ Hope you enjoy this shorter-than-I-wanted chapter._

--

Squalo slammed down a stack of paper on the table in front of Xanxus. He crossed his arms and glared impatiently at his 'boss'.

"There. That bastard Mukuro is keeping the records. I had to sneak in and steal these. They're the most recent; twenty years back at the latest."

Xanxus glanced at the pile before snatching a trailing lock of Squalo's silver hair and pulling. Hard. Squalo fell, bracing himself with his knees on either side of Xanxus' legs and hands on the armrests: essentially straddling Xanxus. Squalo's glare sharpened.

"I'm not in the mood–"

Xanxus trailed his tongue up the side of Squalo's neck, cutting off his protest. Squalo shuddered.

"Did you look through them?" he asked as he nipped at the slighter demon's shoulder.

Squalo held back a groan of pleasure and shook his head. "No."

Giving a sharp bite, Xanxus stood up, Squalo falling off his lap. The demon gave a disgruntled noise and glared up at him. "Then get your ass moving and tell me what you find." Without further ado, he walked out the door, leaving a very pissed Squalo in his wake.

--

Lal looked the human over before turning to her comrades. Colonello had brought Dino, Basil, and Spanner with him.

"One of you, go get the file on that human."

Basil nodded and ran back to the spot they'd landed. He didn't want to chance Byakuran finding the portal to Heaven.

As the angels conversed, Byakuran walked over to the human he'd chosen, wings disappearing so he could be seen. His smile was once again on his face. He stepped right in the path of the young man. Said man stopped abruptly. He stared at Byakuran, who obviously wasn't moving.

"Um, yes?"

Byakuran just smiled. The human was about to step around him when the demon's hand shot out, grabbing his arm. The man gasped at the steel grip. "I was just wondering," Byakuran started, "if I could know your name?"

"Er..." Obviously, he didn't think it a good idea to give this stranger his name. Byakuran's eyes slitted open, giving off a sort-of threat. The human sighed, glancing at his trapped arm and then to Byakuran's smiling face. "Irie."

"And your first name?"

"Shoichi," he answered after a second of mental debate.

"Byakuran, leave him alone," Lal called as she too became visible, followed by the rest of her friends and Basil, who had just reappeared.

In the background, Yamamoto was slowly climbing to his feet and dusting himself off. Gokudera was still standing where he'd been, but he wasn't freaking out anymore. Yamamoto walked over to him and waved a hand in front of the teen's face. Gokudera snapped back to reality and glared. Yamamoto laughed at his attitude change before tugging him over to the group standing around Shoichi.

"But he's the one I picked. You said I could pick anyone."

Lal frowned. "I never said you could pick 'anyone.' I gave you that folder with the choices you had. You can't just go around dragging any human into this." Lal motioned for Basil to give her the folder. She skimmed the first page. "It hasn't been decided which he's going to, either. He's in the middle."

Byakuran shrugged. "I can change that."

"You can't! If it hasn't been decided, neither of us can touch him. At least with him," she pointed to Gokudera, "you knew he was heading down."

Byakuran sighed. "Just a simple action can reverse it. Or a simple _question._" His smile changed to a smirk and he turned to Shoichi. The human was confused beyond words at what was going on but regained himself when Byakuran spoke. "Let's say someone drops a hundred dollars on the ground, and you see who dropped it. Do you return it to them, or keep it for yourself?"

Shoichi thought a moment, adjusting his glasses in a technical manner. "Well, it really depends on a few factors. First, whether I know the person who dropped it. If I do, and I don't like them, then no. If I don't know the person, then it matters how well-off I am. If I'm lacking money, I'll keep it. I can't just say yes or no."

They stared at him. Lal checked the paper.

"It didn't change."

--

Bel dropped Tsuna onto a medium-sized bed. Fran closed the door to the room and approached the bed.

Tsuna couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Why am I here?" he blurted out.

Bel laughed. "You caused some trouble. Squalo was stomping down the halls and cutting everything in his sight. He only gets like that when something has pissed him of royally."

The prince flopped down onto the bed, getting comfortable. Tsuna scooted away.

"Don't bother running."

Tsuna muttered, "Wasn't planning on it," and moved farther from the demon.

Fran was still standing at the foot of the bed. "Bel-senpai is too lazy. If you fall asleep, I won't stop the angel from leaving."

"What was that?" Bel sat up and brandished his knives, ready to attack. Tsuna scrambled off the bed to get out of the way. "A mere peasant shouldn't talk back to the prince. It could end painfully." He sent a knife flying at Fran, but the shorter demon just moved out of the way.

"Senpai's aim is off." Fran walked over and pulled the knife from where it was embedded in the wall. He bent it and let it fall to the floor. "Oops."

Bel growled, getting fully off the bed. Tsuna was cowering in a corner of the room, trying to be as small as possible. The blonde demon approached Fran with eyes agleam.

"Such an un-cute kouhai should be careful of his actions."

Fran stole another knife from the ones in Bel's hand and bent it. Bel snatched it back and tackled Fran.

As they were fighting, Bel grabbed Fran's left hand and twisted it precariously. Tsuna caught a glimpse of an elaborate light purple wing on the back of his middle finger before Fran managed to push Bel away. He tumbled backward and the green-haired demon jumped up, heading for the door. The blonde caught his ankle and Tsuna was once again given the chance to see a wing: left hand, middle finger. Well, that was the least obvious pair he'd ever seen.

"Senpai isn't playing fair," Fran huffed as he dragged himself and Bel out of the room.

"The Prince can be as unfair as he wants," came Bel's voice from somewhere down the hall, followed by a thud. Tsuna figured he'd managed in bringing the younger demon down. Tsuna peeked his head around the door frame to see Bel sitting atop Fran, a smug smile playing over his lips.

He took the chance to slip out of Bel's room and tip-toed down the hall. As soon as he turned the corner, Tsuna unfurled his wings and glided. Then he remembered that he did not know the way out.

--

Well, this was interesting. This human was the most neutral being on the face of the planet. He had a calculated answer for everything. Perfectly in the middle. It was actually frustrating Byakuran. And Lal was amused.

The demon grabbed Shoichi's shoulders angrily. "What wouldn't it be in the middle for?!"

Shoichi pried the hands off with some effort and shrugged. "Love," he answered immediately. "And science."

Once again, everyone just stared.

Byakuran's smile finally returned, with a hint of mischief. "Love... I see. That may work." He reached out to Shoichi and tugged the end of his white shirt. Shoichi was about to protest and ask what he was doing, but Byakuran had already pulled his shirt up far enough to show his chest.

The people walking by either stopped to watch or muttered to their companions about public decency.

The angels –and Gokudera– were completely surprised by this action and stood, dumbfounded.

Byakuran pressed a hand to the human's chest, right over his heart. Shoichi shivered at how cold the hand was, then gasped when it suddenly became warm. The demon's hand glowed a soft blue; he held it there for a few seconds. When he retracted his hand, there was an imprint of his hand on the boy's chest. Byakuran frowned but quickly changed his expression when part of the imprint faded.

Lal let out a shocked sound, and the other angels leaned to get a better look, shock also written on their faces.

"It seems you did not check the rest of his information very well," Byakuran said. "He will be coming with me, it seems."

He let Shoichi's shirt fall, and grabbed the human's wrist.

Shoichi had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't really worried. His chest was distracting him; it felt like there was electricity running through his skin where this guy had touched him. He pressed his own hand to the spot and it lessened.

"It's only temporary." Shoichi jumped and turned to Byakuran, who had obviously been watching him. He nodded.

"Byakuran," Lal called to get his attention. "You really can't just take him–"

The demon cut her off. "Oh, but I can. Red string of fate or whatever it's called. Have a nice day." He smiled and was gone, along with the human.

"Is it really in his file, hey?"

Lal sighed. She shifted a few pages and a sour look crossed her face. "Yes."

"I guess we've lost this one," Yamamoto said with a smile.

They all gave him a 'no shit' look. Even Gokudera.

Lal shook her head and sighed again. "Let's go back. Except you," she pointed to Yamamoto. "You can look after this human." She handed him a folder marked 'Gokudera Hayato'. "Have fun."

Then she left with the rest, abandoning Yamamoto.

Yamamoto turned to his new friend and smiled. "So, what do you want to do?"

--

_Author's Comments:_

_Don't have much to say... Um, yeah. Hopefully the pairings are getting really obvious. :| I think only one person has noticed the significance of the tattoos that I explained in the first chapter. You'll probably get it now, though, thanks to this chapter. If you don't... Wow._

_And they have another use, by the way. Not saying what it is yet. Gotta keep you guessing. :D_

_Review, mebbe?_

_MusicofFire_


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Comments:_

**akuma-river** _Umm... No. XD Sorry to disappoint, but Tsuna's got someone else. Here's a hint: He's the opposite of Tsuna. (Take _'opposite'_ however you want)_

**Lonely Kitty** _D: Nuuuu. I hope that won't stop you from reading the story? I wouldn't want to lose a great reviewer like you. : But I can't stop you. Hope my writing and the other pairings will keep you interested. And he plot, can't forget that. :3_

**Caithdean** _Thanks! Tsuna's partner is a mystery~ It'll be that way a little longer. But I did put a hint. Try to guess. :D_

**Akumi-san** _I loved your review. X3 It was so long and great and.... GREAT. XD But it really made me happy. I love long reviews and the reader's opinion! Oh, and don't worry, Hibari and Mukuro are coming back (in this chapter thanks to you :D). 6918 is my favorite pairing in Reborn, so it will be getting a lot of time. Just not at the moment as I really need to set up some main points in the story... And no, not TYL Reborn. Someone else~ (I hope no one hates the pairing... but it's my fic so too baaaaaaad). Another thing: I'm glad the awesome storyline could distract you from the sadness of no MukuHiba. ;D_

_Not much to say about this chapter, but there is an _**important note**_ at the bottom, in the other author's comments.._

_--_

Byakuran landed in front of his quaint little home, setting Shoichi down gently on the red-tinted ground. The human immediately squatted, clutching his stomach in obvious pain. Byakuran spared him a glance and put his hand to the wood. After a few seconds, he pulled it away and opened the door. He made to go in, but Shoichi was still sitting there; he obviously wasn't going to move. The demon sighed.

Shoichi was jolted from his position as he felt a hand at his back and one under his knees. He was lifted into the air, hands flying from his stomach to Byakuran's neck in fear of falling. Byakuran chuckled.

"You won't fall, Sho-chan. Or would 'I won't drop you' be the thing to say?"

He didn't get a response as they entered the house. This time, though, the doors did not fade as they walked through the rooms. And with each room, Shoichi became more relaxed as the pain in his abdomen faded.

"Ah, good. I thought taking you deeper would relieve the stress. I wasn't sure, but I guess I was right, hm?"A serene smile graced Byakuran's features.

Shoichi looked uncertain, but didn't say anything. With the pain gone, he was able to survey his surroundings.

They were passing through an eccentric violet-dressed room. It was quite large and had a long table occupying most of the space. Shoichi didn't find the size of the room strange because he hadn't seen the outside of Byakuran's home.

Byakuran continued his steady pace, exiting to another purple room, this one much smaller. He took a flight of stairs up to the second level, and then another up to the third.

They entered the only door in the short hallway; it was completely empty.

Byakuran set Shoichi on his feet in the middle of the room. Shoichi looked around, but when nothing happened, he turned to the demon.

"Um... What's this room supposed to be?"

"My bedroom."

As soon as the word left his mouth, furniture popped into existence around the room.

A king sized bed appeared behind them, in the center of the wall across from the door. It was dressed in a white satin bedspread. The pillows were white. Even the wood that made the frame was white. A dresser was against the right wall. It had several drawers which Shoichi figured contained clothes. The last piece of furniture to show up was a white couch. It looked like you could lay down and fall right asleep.

The very last thing to appear was a door on the left wall. It was covered in carvings of angels and demons: in the center was a man (his alliance unknown for there were two sets of wings) and above him were clouds with angels sitting atop them. Below were demons, the most prominent of which had items –if you used the word loosely. The first had many tall stacks of papers around him, the second some kind of carpet, and the third was hovering above a pit. Standing to the sides of the man in the center were several humans. The one thing that stood out the most was that every other creature was looking to the man with two sets of wings.

Shoichi's inquisitiveness got the better of him and he walked closer to inspect the door. He reached out a hand and traced the channels, starting at the top. When he got to te demon hovering over the pit, he kneeled down to get a better look.

"Isn't this..."

"Byakuran-sama!"

--

Mukuro was bored.

He was sitting in one of the many cafes that were littering the human city. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he had actually come to enjoy the human beverage called coffee (He was a demon; he didn't need to eat or drink. It was more like a treat.)

But back to the point that he was bored. It had been a week since he'd seen any angels – especially a specific angel.

Every time he thought of him, a smile crossed Mukuro's face. Quite a sadistic and smug smile.

He put down his cup and pulled back the sleeve of his jacket to look at his wrist. A small, genuine smile flittered across his face, but it was gone in the blink of an eye. Mukuro picked his coffee up again and took a sip.

"I wonder if he's figured it out yet," he mused to himself.

"I would say I have," came an angry yet calm voice.

Hibari sat down across from Mukuro, his wings folding awkwardly because of the chair back.

"Oh, Kyouya, I didn't notice you." Mukuro didn't look surprised to see him, though. The demon eyed Hibari's wings. "And you really should get rid of your wings; people will think I'm crazy."

"That's probably because you are," the angel shot back.

A few of the patrons stared at Mukuro as he laughed. They turned away quickly when he stood up, so none of them saw the other chair slide backwards and push itself in again. They also didn't see the door stay open for a second longer than it should have.

Well, all except one girl.

She put the money for her drink on the table and followed after Mukuro. And the other man.

--

Tsuna had no idea where he was going. Left, right, left again, two rights. Another dead end.

He wasn't sure how to get back to those two demons, either. He was officially lost.

"Why is this place so big?" Tsuna voiced the question that had been floating in his mind for the past half hour. He didn't expect to get an answer.

"So intruders can be easily taken care of."

Tsuna whipped around to find a hooded figure blocking the way he'd come. There were triangles on his cheeks, and a bit of hair poking out showed it was purple. He gave off a very deadly aura.

"Hii! B-but I'm not an intruder!"

The demon didn't change his straight-faced expression. "Then maybe I should charge you for wandering the halls."

"I'm not wandering; I got lost."

"Hmph. Either way, you're taking up space and annoying me. Who was supposed to be watching you?"

Tsuna was silently panicking. He didn't want to go back to those two crazy demons. Bel was without-a-doubt insane, and Fran... wasn't that bad, but he was so bland. And he provoked the older demon, which made him throw knives.

"If you won't answer, I'll just bring you back to Xanxus."

"No! Um..." Scary DiT, psycho regular demon. Which to choose. "H-His name was Bel."

This got a reaction out of the demon. His lips tilted up ever so slightly (the thought that crossed Tsuna's mind at that moment: _why are all demons so emotionless._) "Bel, hm? Then maybe you should make your way back before I decide to charge you."

With that, he disappeared. Literally.

Tsuna sank down to his knees as soon as the demon was gone, relieved. But then something occurred to him. "I don't know how to get back!"

--

"So, Gokudera, what do you want to do?"

Gokudera was walking home, trying to forget about that whole incident that happened less than an hour ago. If only a certain angel would leave him alone.

"Look, do you HAVE to follow me?" He whipped around and glared at Yamamoto. He still had that stupid smile on his face.

"Actually, I do. It's an order," Yamamoto replied happily.

The human continued to stare menacingly. The angel wasn't affected in the slightest. "Okay, fine. I'm going home. Do whatever the fuck you want."

With that, he stomped off in the direction he'd been heading. Yamamoto followed him.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_First of all, sorry that last part is so short. D: I couldn't think of anything Next, on to the important part:_

_**I have decided that I'm going to start side-stories to some parts of certain chapters. For example, the part with Bel and Fran. I cut it off with Tsuna running away. I'm not sure where I'll go with it, but I'm gonna continue it. And another short could be Tsuna's actual falling because I'm just going to explain it in this fic. But what I really wanna know is if you guys think I should start side stories. And if you have any suggestions for side stories (like things you're wondering or I haven't explained or continued), tell me.**_

_So, yeah. :D Also, that door that Byakuran has, seriously important!! Can you guess who the guy in the middle is? -wink wink- Oh, and I know I didn't specify, but the "two sets of wings" are one set angel's, and the other devil's. So yeaaah..._

_MusicofFire_


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Comments:_

_I love you guys. X3 Everyone who reviewed, a giant thank you! Especially when I got on and had a good handful of reviews. So, let me reply to these lovely reviews:_

**Akumi-san **_Not to pick favorites, buuut you'remyfavoritereviewer. XD Your reviews are really fun to read. :3 They really make me want to write. And about the figure on the door: yes, you have met him already. Oh, and there are clues about who Tsuna's match is. They're really subtle, but they are there. I think I'll give you a hint: Chapter 1 and Chapter 5. It's very faint, but if you look closely, you can tell. I'll definitely do some Xanxus/Squalo shorts. I dunno what they'll be yet, but they will be done! I didn't even think about them, either. Thanks for saying something. And reviewing!_

**bloodeternal1015 **_Yay! Another who likes the pairings I do. :DD And when you say 'explicit', you mean like rated M, right? ... It might happen. I dunno if I'm up to that standard yet.... Maaaaybe... But thanks for the review!_

**Pockylover09 **_I'm glad you like it. And why does everyone keep guessing the one in the middle is Tsuna?? ... Oops. That gave something away.... Aaaaanyway~ I start a completely different story for the side stories. I'll put something about it in one of my chapters whenever I get to writing the first short. Keep a lookout._

**-.-CL0UD-GiRL-.- **_I don't mean to make it fun by using puzzles. XD I guess that's just my writing style? Which is good? Lol. I hope it is. Thanks for reviewing. :3_

**ShinigamiSquirrel**_ Sorry to say, but you missed all of them. :x I'm not gonna tell you who is who juuust yet, though. But the door is a serious clue to the stories plot, so keep guessing. ;D_

_The one in the middle of the door shoooould be more obvious, if not entirely "hit-you-in-the-face" obvious. And I think that's all I have to say, other than I really enjoyed this chapter and have fun reading!_

--

Shoichi was sitting cross-legged on Byakuran's prim and perfect bed. He was reading a book that he'd found on the bookcase. The bookcase that had appeared when he thought about how bored he was.

Byakuran had been called away by some other demon with long blue-green hair. Shoichi had been told to stay in the room–and he didn't really have a choice. As soon as Byakuran was gone, the door they'd entered the room through disappeared.

And so Shoichi was left alone to stare after the white-haired demon.

After five minutes of standing, he figured he might as well get comfortable. He'd tried the couch, but it actually wasn't as nice as it had looked. He was hesitant to sit on Byakuran's bed, though. Shoichi wasn't sure if the demon would care or not. Another five minutes passed and Shoichi was sick of the couch, so he got up, slipped off his shoes, and threw himself onto the bed. It sank to form the outline of his body, and it was like a cloud.

Shoichi tried to sleep, but didn't feel right going to sleep in someone else's bed... in Hell... Yeah, that really put someone off. He decided that he wanted to do something and the book he'd been reading earlier that day popped into his head. The floor shook, rattling the dresser. Shoichi shot up to look around and noticed a book case was now occupying the corner. So he picked himself up and chose a book at random.

And we're back to the present.

The book wasn't really interesting. Mostly it talked about things Shoichi didn't understand. Some parts were even in a totally different and strange language. There were pictures, but they hardly helped. Especially when he didn't want to look at the images they depicted: decapitation, burning corpses, et cetera.

Shoichi closed the book with a sigh, laying his head on his palm. His eyes were drawn to the perfectly white door that hadn't vanished. The carvings jumped out at him, dancing before his eyes with hidden messages. They were so interesting! But he couldn't figure it out. And Byakuran had left before he'd finished his question. Which reminded him.

The human got up, book sliding from his lap to lay in the dip he'd left. He walked right up to the door and kneeled. His right palm fell over the demon on the right. It looked so much like...

Shoichi's left hand unconsciously flitted up to his chest, over his heart.

"I see you're still very captivated by that door, Sho-chan."

Shoichi whipped around to see Byakuran leaning against the reappeared doorframe. He had a smirk on his lips, eyes still smiling.

"Um, n-not really. It's just, this one demon, he looks.."

Byakuran cut him off by striding across the room and falling to one knee next to him. "Yes; it's because it is. Would you like to know the story, Sho-chan?"

"Story?"

"Yes, the story of this door."

Shoichi shrugged, unsure. "It is very intriguing..."

Byakuran smiled the first happy smile Shoichi had seen. "It is. Very much. And I will take that as a yes."

The room darkened, and Shoichi got the feeling he was floating, leaving the floor and Byakuran behind. He grabbed the demons arm and heard a laugh.

"No need to worry. You're not going anywhere."

**

"In the beginning, there was one God, as everyone knows. The story of his rebellious angel spawned the creation of the devil, or Satan. Not many know, but that isn't exactly true. Yes, there is a devil, but he is not a Fallen Angel...

A mysterious figure sped across the sky, a pair of mixed blue and white wings flapping every few seconds. It soared through clouds, every now and then dipping down to scope out the area. The hat that usually resided on its head was clenched tightly in a fist held close to its body. A few more surveys of the land, and the silhouette dove toward the earth.

Settling down light as a feather, it fixed the hat once again on its head. In the light from the moon, you could make out a crisp suit and the gender: male.

"You can come out. I wasn't followed." The figure spoke into the shadows.

A tall blonde emerged, sporting a camouflage headband with matching green jacket and white shirt. A girl followed in his wake, staying mostly covered by the shadow of the taller male.

"What are you planning to do, hey? They rebelled. Are you sending them down?" The blonde said to the silence around them.

"Hm. Am I? I can't decide."

The girl gave a disgusted noise. This caught the attention of both men.

"You have a problem with my decisions, Lal?"

Lal nodded minutely. "I do. How is just sending them to Hell going to do anything? They won't learn. Put them in the deepest bowls: the pit of Hell. And send _those three_ down to attend to the happenings."

The blonde grinned. "Good idea, hey. I agree with Lal!"

The man sighed and stepped back to disappear into the darkness of the night. "I will think about it," floated behind the beating of wings.

Lal 'hmph'ed, stamping a foot into the crunching leaves. "Do you think he will follow my advice, Colonello?"

Colonello answered with a rise and fall of shoulders. "He's a hard one to persuade, hey. But your idea was better than any he'd come up with so far."

"How do you know he hadn't already thought of it and just not told you? He trusts no one."

"Hey, I was trying to make you feel better!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get back. I'm sure those three will be rampaging about after the news. Heaven knows they won't be happy."

"But everyone else will," Colonello said, laughing.

Lal smiled. "Those devils in training need a good kick in the ass. Watching over Hell will be wonderful for us."

"Don't you mean them?"

"No. Us."

Colonello hooked his arm around Lal's neck, rubbing his free hand in her hair. She growled and pushed him away before taking off. The blonde opened his wings and took off after her.

**

"Some parts are missing, and I'm completely lost on details, but that is the gist of it. We were sent down to watch over Hell. In particular, I must control the very nastiest of those rebels. The other two got lesser jobs: keeping track of the records and guarding the portal and gates to and from Hell."

The lights restored themselves and Shoichi was left staring at the demon he was still holding on to. But now, with the missing pieces, Shoichi could make out what the point of the door was, but not the _real_ story behind it. It just made him more curious.

"Who _is _the one in the middle?"

"Ah, now that's a question everyone would like the answer to, Sho-chan." Byakuran took Shoichi's hand off his arm and stood, offering the human a hand. Shoichi agreed and was pulled up. "Why don't you get cleaned up, while I clean the sheets." He glanced at his bed, the once perfect sheets crumpled and dotted with dirt from Shoichi's shirt.

Shoichi had the sense to be embarrassed but wasn't sure what Byakuran meant by getting "cleaned up." The demon must have sensed his confusion because he let go of Shoichi's hand–which he still had hold of–and pushed at the carved door. It opened inward, giving a clear view of a porcelain bathroom. The bath was built into the floor, inlaid with diamonds. The same for the sink, though it was attached to the wall. There was also a separate shower.

"A little extravagant, isn't it?" Shoichi asked nervously.

"I would say so, but it is what you imagined." Byakuran was watching Shoichi with blue-purple eyes slitted open.

"What!?"

The demon chuckled, holding a hand up to his mouth. "Sho-chan, this room is special. It will always be a bathroom, but it takes the appearance of whatever my guest thinks it will look like. Even if you're not actually thinking it at the time. And it seems you wanted this." He motioned to the washroom.

Shoichi blushed for the second time since he arrived in the house. "O-oh..." He looked away, pulling at the end of his soiled shirt. "I'll need some new clothes."

"Go ahead. They'll be there when you need them."

Byakuran walked away from the bathroom. He headed to his bed, looking it over. Shoichi guessed that was his cue to clean up himself. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door. The carvings were mirrored on the opposite side. He sighed, figuring he'd have time to mull over the meaning of the door while he bathed.

--

_Author's Comments:_

_I knooooooow. This chapter was all in one place(except for the flashback). :OO AMAZIIIING. It was so EASY writing this chapter for some reason. Don't have much else to comment on, so have fun guessing 'til next chapter! Love you guys~ And review? 8D It makes me write faster._

_MusicofFire_


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note:__ Replies to reviews will be at the bottom this chapter._

--

Mukuro dragged Hibari into the first deserted alley they passed. He slammed the angel into the wall, holding his forearm up to Hibari's throat.

"Now, where is the _real_ Kyoya?"

'Hibari' grinned devilishly, completely out of place on his usually frowning countenance. "Ah, how'd ya kno'?"

Mukuro glared. "You were dragging your leg. I doubt Kyoya would come near me when hurt. So that leaves the question, 'Who are you?'"

"Aw, ya're no fun." The face of Hibari melted, skin bubbling. It changed from pale to a dark tan. The wings molted, leaving black, slimy wings behind. The new face donned a noticeable scar leading from right temple to chin. He also had a mark on his cheek: and S enclosed by a circle with a line through it. Mukuro eyed the mark.

"I see. A shapeshifter." There was disgust in his voice and the stronger demon immediately removed himself from the shapeshifters personal space. Wiping his hand on his pants, Mukuro gave the other demon a scathing look. "This raises many questions, but the most important would probably be why you took the shape of an angel."

The shapeshifter scoffed at Mukuro's motions. He mock-bowed to the higher demon. "'M not some diseas' ya need ta be washing off, and I certainly took tha form'a that angel 'cause yous was thinkin' bout him. Easiest way to get near ya, obvi'sly."

Mukuro chuckled disdainfully. "Disease or not, shapeshifters are the more vial of lower demons; they are also supposed to be locked up in the very deepest part of Hell. Did Byakuran make a deal with you?"

"Maybeh, maybeh not. 'M not inclined to tell tha likes of you."

"You think like that now, but surely I can change your mind." It wasn't a question.

The lower demon shifted uneasily. "You hav' nothin' against me. I hav' no reas'n to be scared of ya."

Mukuro laughed outright. Did this shapeshifter not know who he was? Not that it was unusual; demons stored in the pit were not savvy to the information that ran about in the upper part.

"Oya, oya. We'll just have to change your mind." He sank back into the shadows in the alley, leaning against the wall only slightly; it was rather dirty.

Seconds passed in total silence, broken by the sound of feet hitting pavement accompanied by voices and laughter. As one particular group past, a girl detached herself and entered the alleyway. She approached the shapeshifter, who thought she couldn't see him. He was proven wrong by the girl stopping in front of him. With her being closer, the shapeshifter could see the uncanny resemblance to the demon he'd just been talking with.

"Wha's this? 'Nother dem'n?" He shot at Mukuro. He glanced at the darkness hiding the demon and saw something glowing red. There was a design residing in the middle, but he was too far away to make it out properly.

A soft 'ku fu fu' floated from the opposite wall. "A demon? I would not call her that."

The shapeshifter laughed. "An angel, then? Don't matter what you send 'gainst me. I can trick m'way outta anythin'." He reached into the girl's mind, searching for her one weakness, but hit a wall before he got near anything important. His eyes snapped open to stare at her: she was expressionless. "Wha?"

"She's human. Shapeshifters might be able to trick demons or angels, but their powers can't work on poor little regular humans. They see you for exactly what you are underneath all your foul layers: a human turned greedy and corrupt beyond imagination. So much so that they change their forms and become demons."

"H-how do ya know that?" The shapeshifter was becoming increasingly unnerved. No one should know that. _No one._

"Well, I shouldn't know it. But I've spent the last millennium reading over every single record in Hell and memorizing them. I am the record's keeper after all." Mukuro's cat-like grin could be seen through the shadows.

The shapeshifter bolted.

"Mukuro-sama, should I go after him?" The girl looked back at the demon.

"Hm... No, Chrome. He will be taken care of later. And so will Byakuran."

Chrome nodded and walked daintily out of the alley, leaving Mukuro to brood over not actually seeing Kyoya.

--

Tsuna pulled his legs closer to his body, clenching his fists in the cloth of his pants. It was getting colder; or a better word would be wetter. The microscopic drops of water were seeping into his clothes and the cold air of the mansion (more like **maze**) was causing shivers to run up and down his spine.

The Fallen was still sitting where that cloaked demon had left him. He didn't want to try finding his way back only to get even more lost. And he had a feeling being found by that demon again wouldn't be good.

So here he was, trying to keep warm and wondering where this mist was coming from.

Now that Tsuna thought about it, it was getting thicker, becoming more like fog. And were those footsteps?

Their were two sets, one walking steadily and almost perfectly silent. The other was off every other step. Tsuna could also here voices, but they were too far away to make out.

He withdrew closer to the corner he was in, hoping not to be noticed. Too bad for him.

"Senpai, he's over there," came a very familiar voice, followed by a laugh from another. There was the sound of stumbling, something hit the wall, and then a face peeked around the corner. Fran's green hair framed his neutral face. He blinked at Tsuna's huddled form.

Another head joined Fran's, one with long blonde bangs and a crown adorning them. "I guess your little ground-clouds are useful sometimes, my un-cute kouhai."

"I am cute," Fran muttered out of the corner of his mouth. He jerked forward and Tsuna guessed Bel had done something to him.

"Either way, we've found the little Fallen." Bel turned his attention to Tsuna. "Come on. The boss wants to see you. Shi shi shi."

Tsuna shivered, both from the cold and Bel's tone. He unclenched his fists and stood shakily. As he approached the two demons, Fran turned to head back the way they'd come. Tsuna saw a knife sticking out of his back. Bel motioned for him to follow the younger demon before taking up a spot last in line. Tsuna pulled the jacket he was wearing closer.

"Could you get rid of this fog?" he finally burst out.

Fran turned his head to glance at Tsuna. "Sorry."

The fog thinned, turning back to a mist, and eventually evaporated completely. They walked in silence until Fran stopped in front of a door. Tsuna was confused as he knocked on it: it wasn't the door from the first time he'd seen Xanxus.

Yelling started immediately after the knock, accompanied by the splintering sound of wood. More yelling and the door was wrenched open. Squalo stood there, hair all of the place, glaring at them.

"_What?_"

--

Colonello floated across the clouds, surveying all the working angels. He was searching for Lal.

After they'd arrived back in Heaven, she'd vanished into the crowd of curios angels that greeted them. Now he had something important to tell her, and she was nowhere to be found.

He stopped a random messenger. "Hey, where's Lal?"

The young angel's eyes widened, giving Colonello the impression of a deer caught in headlights. "I-I think she was at the gates, Angel Colonello." The girl blushed and ran off as soon as she'd answered.

Colonello shrugged and walked of to the Gates.

He found Lal sitting cross-legged before the ornamental gates to Heaven. A soul trickled in ever five or six minutes, giving the angel a nod as they headed to the closest guide. Colonello took a seat next to her.

"I don't see why I didn't know you were here. You always sit in front of them when you're feeling bad, hey."

Another spirit tumbled in, this time waving at the two. Lal turned her head toward Colonello, but her eyes weren't really looking at him.

"And I don't see why I didn't know you'd find me. You always come to try and cheer me up."

Colonello smiled. "Try? It works every time, hey. You might as well give up being sad right now."

The edges of Lal's lips twitched, but she forced down the smile threatening them. They sat in silence for a while, until a rather mangled spirit emerged from the Gates.

It had tattered clothes and was missing an eye. There was a silver substance running down from its temple: blood. Lal watched it totter toward the guides and the first open one rushed up to it.

"Hm. That'll be a new angel," she commented. Colonello made a noise of confusion. Lal turned her eyes back to him. "What?"

"How do you know that it'll be an angel, hey? It could just as well be reincarnated."

Lal sighed. "It's not that hard Colonello. They've got this look about them, this aura. And half the time, the really torn up ones," she indicated the soul that was being led off, "become angels to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Oh..." Colonello rubbed the back of his head, staring straight up into more clouds that formed the 'upper level' of Heaven. "You must sit here quite a lot if you know all that."

"It's pretty much common sense."

Colonello had no reply. He waited another minute then stood up. He offered a hand to Lal. "Hey, come on. I think you've done enough brooding for us all."

He got a glare, but Lal took the hand and pulled herself up with his help.

--

_Author's Comment:_

_Imma end it there 'cause I don't wanna go on just yet. I promise that next chapter will be reeeeally long compared to other chapters. But now onto the reviews (also, ya like the twist I put in the beginning? ;D I didn't feel like last chapter's Hibari was really Hibari, so I decided to introduce another plot point.... That I made up on the spot, as usual. XD)_

**akuma-river **_Yup, yup. Byakuran, Xanxus, and Mukuro are the DiTs._

**Lonely Kitty **_Giotto's the first Vongola boss, right? ..... I hope so 'cause if not I'd feel like a total idiot. :x But, um, I can say that he doesn't play a part in this story because when I thought of it, he didn't even cross my mind. I might put him in now that you mention him, but I dunno. Sorry. D:_

**Akumi-san** _I don't skip any reviews! I like reading them all, it's just that yours are the most interesting. XD And I won't say anything for sure, but it may be Reborn. ;D You've got all the pairings right. Did you read through chapters one and five like I hinted? 'Cause it really is in those two. You just gotta put your hands together and think (Sorry if that sounds weird, I think by clasping my hands...). Hope the beginning didn't disappoint you. D: But I promise Hibari will really come back in soon. And Mukuro will be there. 8D_

_Sooo.... yeah...._

_I think I'll post the first short fairly soon. Probably before I post the next chapter of this story, if I'm thinking right... Be watching. :D_

_P.S. There's a hint to Tsuna's partner somewhere in these author's notes. -evil- If you put it together with the hint I gave Akumi last chapter, you'll probably figure it out. ;D Happy searching, and keep reading. Love ya~_

_MusicofFire_


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Notes:__ Once again, replies to reviews will be at the bottom. (It'll probably be like this every chapter. Big news/updates will be up here. And on that note:_

**I made a roleplay community for this fic: **http : / / community . livejournal . com / fbr _ rp / profile (remove the spaces of course) **I would love for anyone to join. But read the rules and everything first!**

--

When Shoichi emerged from the bathroom, clean and dressed in new clothes (which had appeared halfway through his bath), he found Byakuran propped against the headboard, flipping through the book Shoichi had left on the bed. He stood awkwardly by the door, wondering if he should go sit next to the demon. Byakuran decided for him.

"Don't be shy, Sho-chan." He patted the soft sheets beside himself, keeping his eyes on the pages.

Shoichi had another few seconds of internal debate before joining Byakuran on the bed. He had stopped on a particular page that was filled with the foreign symbols Shoichi couldn't decipher. Byakuran browsed the page, index finger moving over the words. He stopped at a very distinct character. If Shoichi could guess, he would say it had something to do with fate. The symbol consisted of two circles; one small white surrounded by a larger black. These two circles were connected by curving lines. The lines were red; that was where Shoichi had gotten 'fate' from. 'Red string of fate' as people always said.

"You picked a very interesting book to read."

Shoichi tore his gaze away from the book. "I couldn't exactly read it... Most parts were in that language."

Byakuran laughed. "It's not really a language, per se. More like drawings, pictures to represent something. I think you've guessed this one already." He tapped the one his finger had stopped on.

Shoichi nodded. Byakuran closed the book with a thud and tossed it toward the bookshelf. It flew through the air and settled back onto its rightful shelf. The human was shocked by this even after being dragged down to _Hell_. "How...?"

"I guess you could call it magic. But either way, do you know what that book was about exactly?"

When Shoichi just shook his head, Byakuran smiled. "It's a book on fate. Or more precisely, a book about the fate of one's love life. The beginning chapters just give a vague background on where the signs originated from, but the later chapters go into great detail."

'Signs' was the one word that really caught Shoichi's interest, so he asked about it.

"Ah, the signs. At first it was this "red string" you humans call it, but an angel who could actually see and feel the strings developed something better. This." Byakuran tapped the spot over his heart.

"What?"

The demon lifted his shirt and revealed a small white wing where he'd pointed. "Every single being has one of these, but in humans they can't be seen."

"But how did they get from red strings to... tattoos? And what were those pictures in the book?" Shoichi had so many questions, but those were the two that dripped from his tongue.

"The transition requires a story, but the pictures, those are what happens when the string is cut or tampered with. There were some who could see the strings, just like that angel, and they could rearrange them any way they wanted. Humans are inherently fickle and selfish. They repeat the same mistakes over and over before they learn their lesson, and that was what brought the angel to fix the problem..."

The lights faded again, but this time Shoichi kept his seat on the bed, grabbing the covers instead of Byakuran himself.

**

_These strings have to be the most annoying thing I've ever had the displeasure of seeing._

The one angel in all of Heaven who could see the strings of fate was picking his way around Earth, trying his hardest to keep away from the twining mass. Usually, no being could see these pieces of fate, but he'd somehow managed to develop an affinity with it. And he hated it.

The whole world, including both Heaven and Hell, was covered with red. It was impossible for him to get anywhere without disrupting someone's life; but at least in Heaven he didn't have to worry about killing anyone...

_I would charge all these idiotic humans if it wouldn't get me sent down. Why the fuck did they send me to do this job?_

He dodged another string that came out of nowhere. They loved to do that. Every time someone was born, a string would shoot out from the person and connect somewhere on the Earth. It covered the Earth in a cloud of red; even the sky was starting to fill up. And the best thing? None of the wires could touch each other. So that just filed even more problems into the angel's already annoyed mind.

"Mammon!"

He turned to see one of the newborns flying up to him, carrying a box. His string stemmed from the back of his right hand, coiled twice, and flew off to who knows where. Mammon certainly didn't know, or care for that matter.

"---- told me to give this to you. He said it might help you navigate through the strings."

The newborn offered up the package and Mammon took it in one hand. His expression remained stoic, so the angel just smiled stiffly and left him to his mission.

As soon as he was alone, Mammon undid the red wire (ironic, no?) Holding the box closed and pulled off the top. In it sat an empty spool.

_Oh, ha. Ha. What could he want me to do with this?_

Mammon held the spool up to his eyes, examining the structure. It wasn't anything special: wooden, the same as any other spool, with intricate designs cut into it, but most had that nowadays. People liked a little beauty in their items.

The angel held it out and immediately the closest fate string attached itself, winding right up with the ends fitting nicely into the cuts made for them. Mammon almost dropped it.

_He's got to be kidding. Didn't I just kill two humans?! But... when they actually die, the string stays behind..._

The string stays behind for up to forty-eight hours, in case something could happen to return the fated. When it floated, waiting, it turned a light blue, and eventually faded gray and crumbled away. But this one was still bright red and going strong. Now all Mammon had to do was figure out what he was being told to do.

_I've got it, but this is only one. I can't fit much more than two on here. So I have to transform it? Something that won't get in the way. In _my _way. Something that can't be tampered with._

He ran his hand over his face in concentration, fingertips lingering on the tattooed shapes under his eyes. An idea sparked.

Mammon poked the string, making sure his touch would not kill it. It stayed the bright red it was meant to be. He took one end and pulled, pressing the string onto an invisible wall in the air; it stuck. Now was the final moment of decision: what would he make it into?

Not reflecting his own; that would be too obvious and he didn't want to be marked for being 'nice' or 'helpful'. He was doing it for his own gain, after all.

Mammon looked down in time to see an angel sailing above the sea of red (of course, they didn't know they were), and the brilliant purple wings gave him the inspiration he needed.

He pressed the string into the shape of a wing. It glowed blindingly bright and cut itself into two, exactly the same, then shrank to about as big as Mammon's own tattoos. They poofed away and Mammon was left to realize he'd have to do that for _every single string of fate._

--

It took over ten years to even make a dent in the red-wire sea. As the years passed, Mammon became grumpier and grumpier. The tattoos under his eyes lengthened, and he took to wearing a hooded coat to keep the sun out of his eyes. And to keep people away from him. Most angels thought him intimidating since they couldn't see his whole face.

Twelve years into the job, Mammon figured out that once the string was on the spool, anyone could touch and shape it. He was furious that it had taken him this long to figure that out.

So with that development, he got more spools and ordered twenty free angels to help him (they didn't exactly have to be able to see the fate strings; it was easy enough to stretch out their hands and find one).

With the added help, the string sea was easily taken care of in three years, but then another problem sprang up.

How would they get the newly born people to immediately have a tattoo? If they just let it be, someone would always have to be on the job: finding the strings, winding them up, and shaping them. And with him being the only angel able to see them, it would obviously be designated to him.

Mammon left the workers to collect the strings and spent weeks figuring out how to rearrange the fates.

--

A year passed with no results. He was stuck gathering the strings that popped up and changing them. Until one day Lal decided to give him a visit. With a gift.

"Here," she handed him a spool. It was blacker than night, and had a sort of pulling sensation as he touched it, like it was trying to grab his soul. "— told me you'd need this. He said to 'finish tying up the loose strings' and on the very last one, use this." Lal pointed to the spool. She was about to leave when she remembered something else. Lal grabbed Mammon's wrist tightly. "But ONLY on the last one. You'll know which it is."

With that, she was gone.

Mammon finished the strings he could see and made his rounds of the Earth, picking up new and old ones he'd missed. A month passed without him having to use the black spool. Then two months, and finally three.

The day it happened, the sky was overcast. Rain was approaching. Mammon had finished his survey of the Earth and could find no red strings whatsoever. He settled down on a lower cloud and waited.

Several minutes went by before anything happened.

A string cut through the air, but it wasn't red like it's brethren. It was a rainbow of colors, and left a glow that emanated from it. From his vantage point, Mammon could see the string in the middle and the light extending above and below it, but the people in the city below only saw a vivid rainbow shooting across the sky.

Mammon picked up his black spool and held it out to the rainbow string. It twirled itself around tightly, pushing the black off the spool and turning it pure white. The angel grabbed one end and put it in the air, where it stayed, glowing. He manipulated it into the shape of a wing just like every other. It cut itself in two, and disappeared. Just like every other.

And his job was finally done. He descended down to the Earth...

-**-

"Shi shi shi. Sorry to interrupt, but boss wanted to see the little angel."

Squalo's glared intensified and he dragged Tsuna into the room by his forearm. Bel and Fran got the door slammed in their face.

Tsuna got pushed roughly onto the couch across from Xanxus. Squalo sat down in a huff next to the Fallen, subtly fixing his clothes and hair.

Tsuna stared around the room, purposely avoiding the demon's intense gaze.

"Hey, trash." Both Tsuna and Squalo looked up, but as the other demon was focused on Tsuna, Squalo went back to arranging his hair. Tsuna weakly glared at Xanxus for the insult. Xanxus was unfazed. "Do you know who your fated is?"

That threw the former angel off. He hadn't expected such a question; he'd expected more insults and threats. "Umm... No, I-I don't."

"Would you like to know?" That question was thrown in by Squalo.

"Er, I don't know..."

"It's either a yes or a no!" a voice called from outside. Squalo picked up the nearest hard object –which happened to be a book– and threw it at the door.

"Stop fucking eavesdropping!"

There was a laugh from outside followed by mumbling and the sound of footsteps. Nobody said anything for a few minutes. As soon as Squalo determined they had actually left, he turned back to Tsuna, who scooted as far away as he could.

"Look, if you tell us everything you fucking know about what's going on on your side, we'll tell you who your damn fated is."

"But I don't know what's going on! It's not like I was there that--" Tsuna clapped his hands over his mouth. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone how long he'd actually been in Heaven. It would be a dead giveaway. Or, at least, that's what Lal had said.

"'that' what?" Squalo growled, snatching Tsuna's wrists so he could talk clearly. "You'll tell us now."

Tsuna felt something sharp touch his neck. Using his peripheral vision, he saw that Squalo had somehow obtained a sword without him noticing; and it was being held much to close to his throat for Tsuna's liking.

At the first jolt of pain, Tsuna let out a squeal. He could feel the blood run down his neck. When the sword tip drew a line around his neck, Tsuna's eyes became unfocused.

"Well?"

Squalo was surprised by the answer he got (not that he'd admit it).

Tsuna gripped his hand over the hilt and pried it off. The Fallen grabbed the sword and bent it in half. Squalo jumped up, only to receive a punch that sent him flying into the wall.

As Tsuna turned to look at Xanxus, his eyes gained a calm and defiant quality. They lost their big, innocent appearance.

Xanxus seemed undaunted by the change. He simply sat in a relaxed manner, legs resting on the coffee table between his chair and the couch.

Tsuna dug into his pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves. He fit them on his hands and they erupted into the same fire that had come into existence on his forehead.

"I will find my fated when it's time. I don't need your bribes."

--

_Author's Comments:_

_KAHGNLDFSDSjngkgf The end of this chapter was hard to wriiite. :x But I knew I had to introduce hyper dying will mode Tsuna. 'Cause I've been wanting to forever, but I never got around to it. Bleh._

_Also, I know I promised this chapter would be longer, but there were some changes. As you read in the top author's notes: _**I made a roleplay community for this fic: **http : / / community . livejournal . com / fbr _ rp / profile (remove the spaces of course) **I would love for anyone to join. But read the rules and everything first!**

_That was mostly the reason I stopped this chapter here. But on to the reviews:_

**akuma-river**_ I dunno, did you guess him? XD I don't remember. If you did, I might not have said yes because I didn't want people to know... Yup, he's Risen. We'll get to his past sooner or later (along with everyone else's), so you'll know the whole story. And sadly, Spanner isn't much of a fighter, so he won't be rescuing Tsuna. That doesn't mean he won't try, though!_

**Akumi-san**_ 'Tis Spanner. I tried to give some vague hints so it wouldn't be TOO easy 'cause that would get rid of the fun. But you found it. :D Actually, the first short will be with Hibari (It will DEFINITELY be posted before the next chapter, I'm positive. It would have been before this one, but I got distracted by school and everything, and starting my community). I may include Mukuro, but that would sorta lead back to the actual storyline... I'll decide when I start it. That shapeshifter just popped into my mind when I began writing this chapter. I thought that the Hibari of last chapter wasn't 'Hibari' enough, so I fixed it up to make it seem more in-character... Which made it not Hibari at all. XD Sorry. But I promise Hibari will be in the next chapter. With Mukuro! And you can read the short in between. :D And we may never know what Squalo and Xanxus were doing... _

_Also, does anyonre wanna guess who that rainbow fate was pairing? Hm? Hmmmm? ;D_

_MusicofFire  
_


	15. Chapter 15

_EDIT(Oct. 13, 2009):: Sorry, had to fix one word that could have changed the whole plot of the story. Disregard this edit._

--

Tsuna stared down calmly at a smirking Xanxus. Squalo was picking himself up from the wreckage of a once very nice wall. His head hurt. A lot.

"Amusing. But still trash." Xanxus laughed, sitting up in his chair. Tsuna lowered himself, attaining a fighting stance. He couldn't trust Xanxus. "I was waiting for this, though." Squalo's head snapped up.

"Voii! You were _expecting_ this, you bastard?! And you couldn't have warned me?"

Xaxnus ignored his outburst. He stood up, towering a head or so over Tsuna. The Fallen didn't back down. He kept his stance, fists raised and ready. But Xanxus did not attack; he turned and walked to a door that Tsuna was sure wasn't there before. It was blood red, with cuts running through it that were painted black. It created a picture: two figures, both with two sets of wings, surrounded by angels and humans. There were no demons to be found.

The demon opened the door and walked into it, disappearing in the darkness. Tsuna was confused, but unconsciously relaxed until he heard a noise behind him.

Tsuna spun around, but it was only Squalo falling onto the couch. The angel sighed and straightened, only to be hit quite painfully in the head with something. He dropped to his knees, clutching the back of his skull. There were footsteps and he was roughly hauled up to his feet, an item being shoved into his chest. Tsuna let go of his head in time to catch said item. Vision blurring slightly, he stared at it.

"Don't just stare, fucker. Take it and get out."

"What?" Tsuna was completely dumbfounded.

Xanxus glared. "Get. Out. Do you want me to carve it into you skin?"

"Eep! No."

He'd reverted back to his normal self, and in less than a second was out the room. Squalo and Xanxus were left to stare at each other.

"Er... How do I get out of here?"

The demons turned to the door to see Tsuna peeking in with terror written on his face. Xanxus pointed a finger at him and Tsuna blinked. The angel ran off and the door slammed shut.

Squalo tilted his head up as Xanxus walked over to him. _Shit_.

"Where were we?"

--

"Where have you _been_?" Lal screeched.

Every angel in hearing distance cringed. Hibari was emotionless.

"You come back from patrol and just disappear. For _days_. Without a word! No one could find you and I had questions. You're lucky you haven't been sent down for disobedience." Her eyes were glowing at this point. "You will tell me what happened. Now. I want every detail."

Hibari would have loved to tell her no, but he knew he couldn't. If he _did_ get sent down, it would be so much easier for Mukuro to find him. "Fine, but I'm not telling you here." He walked away, Lal following him with an angry sigh.

They walked quite a ways, away from everyone else. Lal was about to protest the distance when Hibari turned and she had to stop abruptly lest she run into him. "Well?" she prompted, trying to get her bearing back.

"I met with a devil-in-training while out searching for answers. I had to collect my thoughts afterward. That is all."

Lal could see that he was leaving out some big details. "WHICH DiT, may I ask?"

_No, you may not ask._ "The guardian of records, door of the past, first Hell-spawn; take your pick."

"Ah, Mukuro. I see; he is an annoying one after all." She seemed to leave it alone at that, so Hibari went to walk off, but Lal had one more question. "And what, exactly, made you so upset you couldn't stay in Heaven?"

Well, fuck, she'd figured it out. Hibari did not turn around. Lal stared at his back questioningly. "He's my... _intended._"

Lal gasped. "That's **perfect** then!" was her response. Hibari turned so fast he could have obtained whiplash if he wasn't an angel. The expression on his face just DARED Lal to confirm what she said. Lal caught the look and gave him her own. "Don't give me that, Hibari. If he's really your intended, it will be the perfect opportunity to gather information. I'm sending you down there right now– whether you want to or not," she added as he went to interrupt her. "I refuse to pass this chance up. Now, get whatever you could possibly need and march your ass down there."

Hibari was so tempted to disobey the direct order, but the choice between going down to Hell as an angel or going down there as a Fallen loomed overhead. Angel, Fallen, angel, Fallen.... Angel. Hibari stalked off quicky, annoyed when Lal kept pace with his retreating steps and continued to talk.

"You know you won't be harmed, right? Seeing as Mukuro is your intended, he can't very well hurt you or he would be harming himself. I wouldn't send you down if I wasn't perfectly sure you'd be fine."

Oh, how Hibari abhorred being an angel at that moment.

--

"Damion. DAMION!" Chloe's pissed screeches reached the other demon's ears and he clamped his hands over them. These were the times when her bird-half really showed itself.

"What!?"

Chloe looked offended by his tone. "I was wondering where our sweet little Fallen went if you would be so glad to inform me."

"Why do you think _I_ know, Chloe? You were there when he left and he didn't exactly say when he'd be back." Damion frowned and tilted his head. A pang of worry hit him just then.

"I know where he _went_. I want to know where he went AFTER that. It's been a while since he left. I'm worried. And I'm asking you because I know you gave him the dagger." Chloe shot him a glare and plopped into his lap, disrupting his reading– though he'd stopped reading when she had entered the room. "I know you know where he is, and I know that you know that I know you'll find him for me." He received a sweet, yet threatening smile.

Damion sighed, knowing Chloe had won. He stood up while pushing her out of his lap. Chloe gladly dropped to her knees and waited patiently for Damion to do what he had to.

The demon raised his palms to his head, pressing them to his temples. A look of concentration settled on his face. A minute passed and Damion started to glow a rainbow of colors. He opened his mouth and words spilled forth. Random words that Chloe could make no sense of, but knew were of some importance. Damion babbled for a good five minutes before dropping to the ground (for he had started to float a few inches off the floor) and shaking his head. He sank back into his chair.

"There's no need to worry, Chloe. He should be here in a minute."

Chloe smiled graciously at the tired demon and got up to go greet her fellow Fallen. She'd have to thank Damion with a present later. _Hmmm... What would he like this time?_ As Chloe pondered, she didn't see Vaern walking down the stairs and ran into the other bird-demon. They both fell on their asses, groaning and squawking in annoyance. Both girls looked up at the same moment and glared. Chloe picked herself up and dusted herself off. Vaern folded her feathered arms across her chest, not budging. Chloe sighed and decided to be the better person... er, demon. She held out he hand with a muttered 'sorry' and waited. Vaern glared at the appendage skeptically, but finally grabbed it and had Chloe haul her up. Vaern patted her clothes out before speaking.

"What's the rush, peahen?"

Chloe bristled at the name, but didn't act on her anger. Instead, she answered the frustrating demon. "If you must know, raven," she shot back, "Tsuna is finally coming back."

Vaern snorted, which turned into more of a caw at the end. "Wonderful. Another pest around the house. I don't see why Reborn-san doesn't kick him out. He's more trouble than he's worth."

"Whatever, Vaern. If you don't want to see him, then go away. He should be here soon." With that, Chloe skipped passed her and to the front door with excitement. She opened the door to watch for him since she was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to see the house.

Five minutes turned into ten and then into thirty with no sign of Tsuna. Chloe was getting worried so she decided to venture out. She walked outside and started a trip around the house, getting the feeling she would find him around it. She was right.

Tsuna was sitting a few feet from the rear of the house, looking completely lost. Chloe crept up on him and threw her arms around his neck. He jumped violently and almost smacked her in the face, but Chloe held on.

"Tsunaaa~!" she chirped right next to his ear. The Fallen relaxed at the familiar voice. She let him go and he turned around.

"Chloe! Thank goodness, I have no idea where I am." Chloe giggled. "What?"

"You're just a few feet from the back of the house. You've got better instincts than you think. Come on, let's get inside." She grabbed the brunette's arm and forcefully dragged him back to the front door and into the house.

--

Mukuro got a very pleasant surprise when he opened the door to his very-much-out-of-the-way house. Hibari Kyoya was standing on his doorstep (figuratively; Mukuro didn't have a doorstep). He was surprised for three reasons: 1) it was Hibari standing outside of his house, 2) his house could hardly be counted as being in Hell's borders, and 3) it was invisible, so how the fuck did Hibari find it?

"Kyoya, I didn't expect to see you here. I hope you aren't one of those dreadful Pit demon's in disguise, or I might very well have to take it up with Byakuran." Mukuro smirked at the furious glare he received. Definitely the real Kyoya.

Hibari just wanted to get this torture over with. The smirk he was getting from the demon was infuriating him, and he knew he needed to get his temper under control or he'd be fighting with the demon. Which did not help him in any way. Stupid fate for making Mukuro his damn intended. Damn the rules of nature. He would kill whoever was running this fucked up game (oh, if only he knew).

Hibari snapped out of his thoughts and straightened his face as best he could, trying and failing to give Mukuro a _somewhat_ pleasant expression. "Are you going to let me in or not?"

Mukuro laughed, and moved out of the way for the pissed angel. Questions could come later. He would enjoy his little gift for now...

--

_Author's Notes:_

_I know you guys probably hate me for not updating in FOREVERRRRRR. I had horrible writer's block. -cries- I was going to make this chapter longer, but I wanted to give you guys _something._ Hope this is good enough to tide you over until next chapter._

_**Also, I have posted the first short (a while ago, actually). Go to my page to check it out. :3**_

_**Another announcement (from the other chapter): I made a roleplay community for this fic: **__http : / / community . livejournal . com / fbr _ rp / profile (remove the spaces of course) __**I would love for anyone to join. But read the rules and everything first! We have two members so far (including me D:) and I really want people to join. Pleeease? I might update faster. -bribes-**_

_Reviiiews:_

**akuma-river** _As much as your logic about the rainbow string makes sense, I kinda already planned for it to bind two other characters. I don't really want to change it even though what you said makes soooo much more sense, but I've kinda decided and I'd rather not change. And the answer to those questions will be answered in time...._

**Akumi-san** _-hugs- I'm sorry for not updating sooner. D: I feel like I'm obligated to because of your awesome reviews. XDD Anyway, I posted the first short, if you missed the message above. I hope you like it. ;D I also tried to include more 6918 moments in this chapter. And Xanxus and Squalo were doing something... but you may never find out what. -evil laugh- You probably won't be able to guess who the rainbow string connects. I can give you one hint though: you haven't met one of the characters it connects._

_Ahh, and one other thing to say: Another door! Bwahahahaha! Guess what this one could mean/has on it. I'm so evil! But I did give hints to the doors' meanings. Also, there will be one more door. It'll probably be mentioned next chapter or the one after. :3_

_MusicofFire_


	16. Chapter 16

Mukuro's house was... interesting. The foyer was decorated with dark blue tile and a mirror hanging on the left wall. As Mukuro passed it, the mirror reflected him with an indigo aura and dark grin (which he definitely did not have, as Hibari could see the edges of his mouth raised in quite a satisfied smile). Hibari stalked passed and he was given a dark purple glow. His face remained the same, though there was a rather suspicious outline protruding from his hair.

As they exited the short entryway, a living room greeted them. An interrupted hallway opened on left and right. A few doors could be seen down either hall.

The living room was furnished with deep blue couches and chairs. A fireplace was set in the right back corner and a fire was steadily burning. The carpet was a dark green, almost black. The back left was the door to what looked like the kitchen and beyond that Hibari could see a railing, indicating stairs.

Mukuro turned around in the middle of the living room. "As you can see this is the living room. Down the halls are rooms for my subordinates. Through the kitchen and dining room, you can get to the stairs." He made a motion with his hand to tell Hibari to follow as he walked into the kitchen.

The kitchen had the standard checkered tile, but instead of black and white, it had blue and white. It was large, with counters spanning three walls. The middle was open and had a medium-sized table set up to act as the dining room. The stairs were in the far corner.

They walked up the spiral stairs (which happened to be carpeted in white). The upstairs hall also had white carpet. There were numerous doors leading off.

"Would you like to see your or my room first?" Mukuro asked as he walked leisurely down the hall. Hibari followed with a scowl. Mukuro glanced back and frowned at the sour expression. "No need for the glare, Kyoya. You came here of you own accord."

Hibari mumbled something, causing Mukuro to stop on his way to open one of the doors to the right. The angel almost bumped into him but caught himself at the last second. The demon's mood seemed to be changing.

"What was that, Kyoya?"

"I said I didn't come here by my own will. Lal ordered me to."

Mukuro flipped around, grinning, but the expression had an underlying anger to it. "'Ordered'? Are you sure," he snatch Hibari's right hand and pulled back the sleeve of his jacket, revealing the purple wings, "you wouldn't call it _fate_?" The demon let go of Hibari's hand and showed his own right wrist, where demon wings resided in the same spot. Hibari refused to look at the mark. "Oya? Well, this _is_ a problem. Do you not believe in fate, my cute little angel?" Mukuro received silence. A truly sadistic smile spread across his face as he circled the angel. "Aren't you going to attack me?"

"I was ordered not to," Hibari bit out, slowly reaching the point of losing his self-control (which he had very little of to begin with).

"Oh, now Kyoya, all these 'orders'. That's not like you at all. You were such a free spirit when you were human. One wonders why you even became an angel." Mukuro stopped in front of Hibari and surveyed the teen. "Ah, but of course you and I came before Hell. So that leaves the question, why are you still an angel?"

The clang of metal resounded in the narrow hallway. Mukuro was pushed against the wall as Hibari attacked. He'd called his trident just in time to block the blow but had still been forced back. The smile was fading from his face as he looked at Hibari.

"I apologize, Kyoya." The demon grabbed the tonfa and yanked, pulling Hibari forward. He reversed their positions so the angel was against the wall. "Living in Hell tends to give you another side. Mine happens to be rather... mean, to say the least." Mukuro leaned closer, ignoring Hibari's angered gaze. Their lips were inches apart. "How would you like a present as further apology?"

"I'll bite you to death if you get any closer," Hibari growled out.

Mukuro laughed at the threat. "Sadly, you are in no position to hurt me. And getting closer was part of that present, but I'm beginning to rethink. I'd rather give that part when you are more willing." He backed up, letting the weapons go. His trident vanished and he moved to the door he was going to open before the whole fiasco. "I can give you this part, though." Mukuro left the door open as he disappeared inside, expecting Hibari to follow.

Hibari stowed his weapons and grudgingly entered.

The room was small, adorned with only a bed. There was the door that led in and one other. This door was old, with engravings. Two places were depicted, one in the clouds and one on the earth. In the clouds were angels doing various things, but if you looked closer, there were a few angels who had evil grins on their faces, sneaking about behind all the others. On the ground, humans went about, oblivious. In the bottom corner, there were angels with demon horns surrounding a group of humans who were scared. The door itself was grey, with the etchings in black.

Mukuro went to stand in front of the door, motioning to it. "As you know already, I have the door of the past and keep watch over the records. But what I'm sure you don't know is that Byakuran has the door of the present and presides over the pit, while Xanxus holds the future door and the tapestry that controls the gate and portal. No one knows what the future looks like except for him and his little minions." A frown crossed his face. "Anyway, that's all I have as of right now, other than demons escaping from the pit."

Hibari's angered expression faded slightly. "Why are they escaping?"

"Ku fu fu. Finally taking an interest, hm? I'm not really sure, though." The demon glanced around in thought. "My best guess would be that Byakuran is not keeping a close enough eye on them." A shrill ringing sounded from downstairs. "Oya, that is my cue to leave. Sorry, Kyoya, but I really must go. Make yourself at home and try not to wander off?" Mukuro swept passed the angel but not before taking Hibari's hand and kissing it in the way a gentleman would when meeting a beautiful lady. He smirked as Hibari stepped back and brought out his tonfa once again. He straightened and gave Hibari a pointed look. "The other two are not nearly as lenient as I, especially if they know you are my intended. This is a competition and using bait is not against their rules. I know you are strong, but they are underhanded. Do not underestimate them." He went to leave but stopped at the door frame, turning back. "Or me." Mukuro gave one last smile as another ringing resounded. He shut the door, leaving the angel alone.

Hibari put his tonfa away and sat on the bed. He had no idea how he was going to live with this demon for any amount of time.

--

Chloe pulled Tsuna through the house, heading for where Damion had been. The brunette didn't protest as he was lead into the living room. Damion was still in the same spot, reading. He looked up as they entered.

"I see he's finally come back."

Chloe huffed. "Why didn't you tell me he was behind the house? He didn't even know it himself."

Damion shrugged. "I thought he would find his way in eventually," he explained. "But I guess not."

Chloe sat back on Damion's lap, making herself comfortable. Tsuna plopped down in an open chair, finally getting a good look at what Xanxus had given him. It was a book.

"So what took you so long, Tsuna?" Chloe leaned toward him to see the object he had better. "You said you were just going topside. Did you get really lost?"

Tsuna turned his attention to her. "I did go up, but I met one of my friends from Heaven. He followed me down here. We split up once we got inside and Squalo kidnapped me and brought me to Xanxus. He gave me this," Tsuna held up the book, "and kicked me out. Then I wandered back here."

Chloe and Damion stared at him. Chloe was the first to speak.

"First of all, did you just say he _kicked you out_?" The Fallen nodded. "Okaaay... And second, did something else happen, 'cause you seem much more confident all of a sudden."

"W-what? I do?"

"Ah, no, I didn't mean it in a bad way!" Chloe waved her hands and almost fell out of Damion's lap. "It's just, before you left, you were really timid – which was adorable, but that is beside the point – and now you seem so... I dunno... brave, I guess. You just talked about being kidnapped by _Squalo_ without sounding scared."

"Um, well, it wasn't that scary. They didn't do anything to me..."

Damion finally decided to add to their conversation. "What's that book?"

Tsuna handed it to him. "Xanxus gave it to me before he made me leave. I don't know what it means."

Damion ran his hands over the cover, wiping away dust. The words were well-worn and hard to read. "I can hardly make it out. Fa... oke... pent... Does that mean anything to either of you?"

They shook their heads.

"Hmm..." He turned a few pages, skimming the symbols. "It seems to be a children's story."

"Maybe he's trying to insult you indirectly, Tsuna," Chloe cackled. Damion pushed her off his legs. She gave a squawk and swatted his foot.

"It's something about an angel, but that's all I can decipher at the moment. Give me a bit and I'll tell you more."

Tsuna nodded and curled up in the chair, falling asleep. Chloe left the room to get a blanket and cover him. Damion continued to read quietly, his other book off to the side.

It would take quite a few hours before they would figure out the message behind the book, but by that time, would it be too late? For a lot can happen in the span of a few short hours.....

--

_Author's Notes:_

_Oh my gooooooooooood, I am sooooooo sorry. -cries- I really should have updated this forever ago, but writer's block got the best of me. Stupid writer's block. Anyway, after this point, the story is really gonna pick up and you're gonna learn where this plot is _really_ going._

_Reviews:_

**Friglit**_ Thanks. :D And I think someone figured out Tsuna's intended already. If you go back and read the author's notes (specifically the section where I reply to reviews) you'll see._

**Caithdean**_ Hmm... What will he make Hibari do? Well, as you can see in this chapter, he kinda just gives him info. XD Lucky Hibari, hmm?_

**akuma-river**_ D: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?_

**Akumi-san**_ Six pages, seriously? :D Yay! That's means more wonderful 6918 greatness. And I just had to have them in the first short. I wanted to explain how they'd met and everything, so it was the perfect place to do it. You're right in that you haven't met Lambo, but is he connected? I don't know... And this chapter answers who sees the next door. XD Last chapter should have meant I returned, but evil writer's block got hold of me and I couldn't write anything on this fic for ages. I only just got my idea back. Maybe being sick wasn't such a bad thing. Lol. Anyway, sorry for the long wait. D: Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I promise not to take forever on the next one._

_MusicofFire_

_Just as an afterthought, I'll probably be cleaning up previous chapters (fixing mistakes and stuff).  
_


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